Watching Olympics during work? You’re underemployed

UPDATE:  In hindsight, I may have picked a bad example that’s really just a one-off and distracted some readers from my main point. Plus, the Olympics turned out to be awesome! But I stand by my intended takeaway: If you can do your job with one eye on the TV all day (whatever you’re watching), even if your boss thinks you’re successful, you’ll probably be happier if you find a different job that occupies your full attention.

ORIGINAL POST:

This week if you’re working with one eye on the Olympics on a different monitor, I hope you have a great time.

And when the Olympics conclude, I hope you find a job that challenges you more, lets you contribute more, and pays more.

I’m not your boss or your eighth-grade teacher, and this message isn’t about work ethic or honesty. It’s all about you maximizing your potential and opportunities.

If you can coast while watching sports on TV, think what you could achieve if you were trusted with work that occupies your full attention? That keeps you so focused you don’t notice the day flying by?

If your only goal is a paycheck, then I guess watching gymnastics live instead of tape-delayed does liven up the summer doldrums. But if your goal is a growing paycheck plus self-actualization, accept responsibilities you’re not fully prepared for.

Gabrielle Ferree, Global VP of Communications for Bumble, was my guest on our most recent Inner Circle training event. She shared the PR career tips she followed to ascend to her current role that she now advocates to her mentees, including:

“Do things above your level.” Here are some examples from Gabrielle’s career.

Entry-level – overdelivered on grunt work and earned the right to draft a crisis communications plan for a Fortune 500 client.

Second job – taught herself Google Analytics so she could tie her media placements to key events in the sales cycle at a large B2B software company.

Third job – first management role, at a startup: volunteered to stand up functions she had no training in or experience with: social media, internal comms, investor relations and content marketing (fortunately, not all at the same time!).

The point isn’t to work yourself into the ground for the sake of brownie points or bragging rights. That’s dumb. The point is:

If your current role is so unengaging that you’re seeking outside inspiration during the work day, find new projects or responsibilities that stimulate you intellectually and build your capacity.

Money and promotions aren’t the focus, but they’ll inevitably follow.

I promise you – At the end of a day spent with your head down learning new things and leaving your mark, you feel way more amazing than days you got away with pushing around emails between swimming heats.

If you want access to the training Gabrielle gave, register for our Inner Circle Wait List and you’ll be alerted the next time we accept new members. Every month we cover more key concepts that build your income and autonomy as a PR pro.

One more tip if you’re really into the Olympics: After these Games end, put your head down and get a better job. Earn more money and build credibility so you can take the full two weeks off in 2028 and go watch them in L.A. in person :).

UPDATE:  In hindsight, I picked a bad example that’s really just a one-off and may have distracted from my main point. Plus, the Olympics turned out to be awesome! But I stand by my intended takeaway: If you can do your job with one eye on the TV all day (whatever you’re watching), even if your boss thinks you’re successful, you’ll probably be happier if you find a different job that occupies your full attention.