We’ve all seen
the posts in forums
or Facebook groups.
Someone asks a question
they could have easily answered
with a simple Google search.
Because, usually,
they’re not interested
in the answer.
They’re interested
in everyone seeing their name
as they ask the question.
Answering their questions
is a time suck,
a useless task
that carves time away
from the project
WE are working on.
It makes it more difficult
for US to succeed.
I now rarely answer questions
unless those questions
are specifically addressed
to me.
Even when that happens,
I often push back
with a question to the asker.
About 90% of the time,
that asker
doesn’t answer my question.
They’re not interested
in doing that work.
Why would I
then do the work
for them?
““Professional advice is valuable,
so if you want it for free,
then you’d better
be willing to either
trade something in exchange
or have a strong enough
relationship
with the individual
to get that advice
as a favor,”
says Joe Wiggins,
a careers-trends analyst
at Glassdoor.
It’s something that
women on the receiving end
of these requests,
in particular,
would do well to remember.
From offering
to take the minutes
during meetings
to organizing the birthday cake
for colleagues,
it’s the female employees
who tend to be
the most visibly helpful.
This cultural expectation
of women
as professional caregivers
can often be detrimental
to our own careers
and personal boundaries.”
Your time is valuable.
Respect it.
Ask yourself
– Why are YOU being asked
for advice
or to take on
these extra tasks?
If it is
because they feel
you have time
to waste
or
they would have
to pay
someone else
for it,
walk away.
Focus on your own tasks.