Turn the Page on Endless Heads-Down Days

I once knew a guy who worked for an incredibly toxic boss. (You’ve probably met this persona: The micro-manager who loves gotchas and second-guessing their staff?) In an effort to stay out of the fray, my friend got into the habit of just hanging out, heads-down in his office.

After about a year, the Toxic Manager moved on, and he thought he was in the clear. So, you can imagine how surprised he was to get mixed feedback at review time. The New Manager said, “It’s not that people dislike you. It’s that they don’t know you.”

You see the good news was that he got a lot accomplished. And since he had a Big Law background, he was used to chasing ways to rack up billable hours. So, the conventional thinking was that he was killing it by ticking off assignments as “done.”

But the bad news was that my friend’s “task first” orientation was a wall he accidentally built brick by brick. His New Manager shared that people had the impression of a cold guy with the blinds drawn, hammering away on contract drafts.

Suddenly, he saw an opening to recalibrate his priorities. Not by clout chasing, but by ensuring people and tasks co-existed. His professional status increased once he intentionally opened up and shared projects he was excited about or thorny issues he solved.

Next, let’s meet someone who decided to rethink how they managed their financial goals. By adapting a Mindset Reset, our topic for November, they shifted what could have been a dead-end to an empowering set-up for future success.

People Skills are the X Factor to Success

Katie Gatti Tassin of Money with Katie thought her financial life was all figured out once she sketched out her top priorities. Her equation went 1, 2, 3. (1) Cut, cut, cut wherever she could. (2) Save as much money as possible. (3) Then get to early financial independence. Sounds sweet, right?

There was just one problem, and it was a big one: People. All the videos Katie watched missed the advice that people were the X factor to success. On paper, she was meeting her aggressive financial goals. But in real life, her heads-down outlook played against her.

For instance, she risked the chance that people might see her as hard to get to know and give up trying. She didn’t have the inside scoop on people moves and department restructuring. And she didn’t have a shot at sharing her professional perspective in a conversational but compelling way.

Katie’s solution was simple. She struck a balance by dialing down her financial goals and dialing up time connecting with others. That $5 coffee turned out to be money well spent.

Create Alliances with 2-Minute Challenges

Let’s be honest: Socializing is the first thing to go when you’re jammed. But before you swipe left, consider this: You might create alliances with people who complement your skill set. You could get to know people who can help you finish all those tasks. And you may walk away with a longtime friend or two. Those results make nurturing relationships worth your time.

A mindset reset doesn’t need to be hard, depressing, or boring. Here are three 2-minute challenges to strengthen your people skills:

1. Talk to someone new for 2 minutes.
2. The next time you run into a colleague in the cafeteria, elevator, or office kitchen, take 2 minutes to chat. The catch is to make it personal, even if it’s as simple as what’s in your Netflix queue.
3. Schedule time with a long-lost colleague or current co-worker. Don’t just promise to go to lunch or happy hour—take 2 minutes to put a day and time on the books. You might learn new developments that completely shift how you’re thinking about next year.

The bottom line is that To Do lists are forever, but people come and go. So, don’t let quality relationships fall by the wayside. Engage your people skills and turn the page on endless heads-down days.