Yeah. This is a little bit awkward.

So. It has been an eventful… more than 6 months since I last posted. Listen, I’ve been really busy, OK? Doing what, you ask? Oh, um… well… I think I’d better start at the beginning. You know, the part about how I’m “the man” now.

About the time that I stopped posting regularly, through a series of seriously screwed up events about which I have no comment, my boss was suddenly and unexpectedly fired. And when the staff was asked if there was anyone who would like to take his place, the sound of crickets chirping and feet scuffling was absolutely deafening. So, as the most senior member of the team, and the most generally competent employee, I got “rewarded” with a “promotion.”

Now, I’m not going to get in the habit of blogging about my job — I don’t want to get put on the fast track to unemployment– but here is a good lesson for those of you who are still as young and impressionable as I was:

Hard work does not pay off.

Or rather, it pays off about 10 to 1. In more work. Hard work does not lead to more money, more appreciation, more time off, or more job satisfaction. All it leads to is people knowing that they can rely on you to get. things. done. This includes your boss, your slacker co-workers, your needy clients, and your frustrated contractors. They know that they can lean on you in times of need (or want), and they will. A lot. And while you’re up to your eyeballs in everyone else’s work, everyone else will be over at the water-cooler schmoozing with the boss and getting invited to play golf with the board of directors.

So here is the moral. Say no. It’s good to be accommodating. It’s beneficial to take an opportunity to learn a new skill or do some networking. It is worth your while to come through in clutch situations… it shows that you’re competent, and that you work well under pressure. But when a co-worker comes to you to ask if you would be willing to work on a Saturday in his stead because he “has a thing,” apologetically decline. When your boss comes to you and says, “listen, would you be willing to take on this task that is completely outside the scope of your job, and really isn’t that important, but it allows me to avoid confrontation or a menial task,” tell him that you’re so busy working on your really important project that you just don’t think that you can manage it. Do this periodically, if only to demonstrate that the work that you have is important, and that you have clearly defined professional boundaries.

Just make sure that you close the solitaire window first.

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