Hi there, it’s Jill!
Have you ever wondered why you feel so busy all the time: meetings after meetings, endless emails, constant “urgent” questions — yet when you pause and reflect on the past week, nothing particularly meaningful or productive comes to mind?
Today, let’s talk about how to get yourself out of that “busy” trap—and how to start your week with more intention, and build systems that help you solve things 10x faster.
Also, please feel free to share with me your thoughts on the post, or any career-related questions by simply clicking “reply” to the email, I would love to hear from you, and will address those in future posts 😊!
01
My Story
Years ago, when I was a rotational associate, during one of my rotations, my manager often asked me to scrape stock price data from Bloomberg.
Being very new to the team (and to Bloomberg), this actually sounded exciting. I spent a lot of time learning how the terminal worked, chatting with help desk agents, calling support, and eventually pulling the exact data requested.
At the time, I never thought there was anything wrong with what I was doing. I was simply doing what was asked of me.
Until one day, one of the managers on the team said to me:
“Jill, I noticed you didn’t use the Bloomberg terminal much this past week.”
He smiled. “That’s a good thing. It means you’re doing more meaningful work.”
That comment stopped me in my tracks.
What I thought was working hard turned out to be mostly repetitive execution. Yes, it took time to get the data right, but once I had mastered the skill, the work itself wasn’t helping me grow anymore.
After that realization, I started asking my manager for more intellectually stimulating work, or opportunities to support other teammates’ projects. I’m incredibly grateful for that observation—it helped me use the remainder of my rotation to learn far more than I otherwise would have.
02
What Types of Work Can Be “Optimized”
A surprising amount of our time is spent on work that can be streamlined, systemized, or even eliminated.
Here are a few common categories, and how to make them take up far less of your time. When I started doing this consciously, I often freed up half a day, or even a full day each week for higher-impact work.
1. Questions That Repeatedly Come Up 🤔
Instead of answering the same questions from scratch every time:
Draft a thoughtful, reusable answer and save it as an email, document, or slide.
Over time, build a small personal “FAQ library” you can quickly refer to.
When asked, you can share or adapt your pre-written response instead of reacting on the spot.
Typical examples:
What does X mean?
Where can I find X?
Have you worked on X before?
How do you usually solve X-type problems?
This alone can save hours each week.
2. Meetings Without a Clear Agenda or Direction 🧭
Here are some tips to save you 2-5 meeting time each week:
Ask the organizer for a clear agenda in advance.
Coordinate with participants beforehand so the meeting time is used to resolve issues.
If something can be resolved in 15 minutes, don’t stretch it to 30.
After the meeting, send a short recap with clear action items and owners. Don’t be afraid to tag names and ask for confirmation.
For ongoing initiatives, set up a shared tracker so each meeting moves the work forward instead of rehashing old points.
3. Things That “Should” Exist, but Don’t (Yet) 🗂️
This category is closely related to repetitive questions, but usually more substantial. It often requires upfront organization, but pays off massively over time.
Examples:
For data teams: a master dataset that can be easily transformed for different analyses.
For product teams: a repository of historical campaigns and product offerings.
For tech teams: a clear installation or setup guide so clients or colleagues can self-serve.
Sometimes the best investment isn’t answering one more question, it’s building a system so that question never needs to be answered again.
This varies by role and team. I’m a strong believer in collaboration and helping others grow, but not at the expense of your core responsibilities.
When tasks are frequently pushed onto you without clarity, it’s okay to politely push back.
If you’re unsure whether something is truly your responsibility, check with your manager.
Protecting your time and energy is not selfish—it’s professional.
Over time, you’ll notice that clearer boundaries actually make you more effective and trusted, not less.
03
Reflect on How to Work Smarter, Not Just Harder
Beyond all the tactics above, one habit I find incredibly powerful is a weekly reflection.
At the end of each week, ask yourself:
What did I actually spend my time on?
Which activities moved the needle?
Which ones could have been systemized, delegated, or avoided?
How you spend your time and energy matters. Time spent on low-impact work crowds out opportunities for deeper, more meaningful contributions.
Final Thoughts
Being busy is easy. Being intentional takes courage and practice.
This week, pick one recurring task that drains your time and ask yourself:
How can I make this easier or faster next time?
— Jill
Founder of Anchor Growth Newsletter
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