Nice Work Advice: Work smarter, not harder

On productivity, managing your work and utilizing tools

Welcome back to Nice Work - and our 2nd edition of the Nice Work Advice Column! If you’ve been along for the ride for a while, you may have noticed we’ve begun to build themes around each month. We talked money, value and compensation in May, and we’re wrapping up a month of discussing productivity hacks and tools for better organization and ease in our workday - aka: how to work smarter and not harder!

Our Q+A drops in at the end of each month, to cover your specific questions related to the theme of the month (and anything else related to your work that you might need some perspective on). 

If you’re curious for a second opinion on how you might approach a work-situation, need help figuring out how to kindly offer feedback to to a colleague, or want to pick our brains on new systems you’re planning to launch for your company to make it a better place to work, you can respond directly to this email, leave us a comment on Substack or DM us on Instagram. Tell us your story, ask a question and we’ll include our responses in our next advice column!

PS - Free subscribers get the first 2 questions and answers to their inbox no matter what. Paid subscribers get unlimited access to questions and answers. Want to upgrade to paid (€5/month)? Hit the button below!

Hope these help! Let us know if they do,

Jade + Rachel

Get caught up on the last month! ✨

Life is too short to think about work outside of work

Tips to refine your daily workflow

The magical tools you need to slam that laptop shut on Friday

Nice Work Advice Column 

on productivity, work-day organization and working smarter, not harder

Q: Every week I try to plan my work days to be efficient and productive, but without fail, I’m derailed by surprise new priorities that pop up, or urgent meetings that aren’t scheduled. I know part of this is just the way that my company works, but it feels like chaos and tbh I don’t know if I can say NO if the meetings are being set by leadership. What would you do?

Jade:

I’ve definitely been in a similar work dynamic! And I know how frustrating it can be when you’re trying really hard to set your day up for success and then feel like you constantly have the rug pulled out from you. I like to look at situations like this from two angles: what can I do on my own to make this better, and what if any do I need to action that might involve someone else. 

In this case, if you know each day is going to come with an impromptu meeting or last minute urgent work you weren’t planning for, you might build that into your daily plan. I know this is more of a bandaid for a chaotic environment but I hope it might help you feel more in control! Block whatever amount of time makes sense for the unforeseen and when it happens, use that blocked space to shift your other work around, so you don’t feel like you can’t actually accomplish what you set out to do in that day.

Secondly, this might be worth discussing one-on-one with your leadership or boss. I know it might feel like you’re complaining, but it’s a business concern if it’s hindering your progress on other important projects you’ve been working towards. 

Rachel:

I like that you specified “being set by leadership.” If that’s how the humans in charge are running their work, there’s only so much planning, orienting, and flexing you can do to work around them. I feel like you’re in a Twister board of work you need to get done, meetings that could be emails, and unclear work expectations. SO fun. 🫠

Here’s what I did when I worked somewhere like this. Write out, clearly, what you are being asked to deliver. Memorise it. And then ruthlessly prioritise it. Meaning: whenever you are not being pulled into random meetings, work on it. When someone asks you to do something new, re-iterate what your top goals/deliverables are, and ask if this new work fits in, or replaces, these. And when someone asks why these deliverables aren’t done, come ready with an answer about the number of meetings you’re being asked to join, the other asks being put on your plate, etc. It’s a bit similar to the chaotic working/malicious compliance approach, except you’re not being malicious. You are just getting clarity. And because your workplace is chaotic AF, that’s only fair. You’re getting answers - it just sucks that you have to constantly re-ask for them. 

In the interim, I completely agree with Jade that you should build in time for the chaos. No one may have said it like this yet, but, your main deliverable might simply be: “Just be flexible and work on what the day requires.” 

So again - write that down. Memorise it. Prioritise it. So when someone comes to you and asks you to do something else BESIDES be flexible, you can ask what the trade-off should be.

Q: This might be a weird question, but I’m struggling with feeling like it’s okay if I use AI to help me do my work. It feels like cheating. For context, I write blogs and other SEO content for consumer brands. It would be great to have Chat GPT figure out the outline for my content but I also feel like I’m supposed to be doing that haha. Thoughts?

Jade:

I’m mulling over a similar conflict in my own brain right now. What I like to remind myself first, is that in most cases, unless you’re in a particular tech-focused role, the use of AI in your work in any capacity is optional. AND not using AI doesn’t automatically make you “behind.” 

Secondly, as Rachel mentions in this newsletter, AI can’t and doesn’t replace your life experience and the sparkle you bring to your work. A human touch is irreplaceable, so even if you do outsource your work to an  AI tool, it’s not gonna have the same draw as when you add your personal flair. So in that way, I DO think it can be helpful to have AI help you organize and outline ideas, because that may not actually be your niche. Your niche might be in the creativity that unfolds after the plan. 

What I’m saying is, it’s up to you, but neither decision should feel like cheating, because you’re going to have to bring in your human touch no matter what. If AI excites you, dabble with it to see how it might make your life easier and allow you to focus on the parts of your work you’re most excited about. If you’re hesitant towards bringing in AI, don’t bring it in yet. It’s okay to wait until you’re clear. 

Rachel:

First - it might not be ok for you to use AI in your work. Ask your manager, or boss, or even your IT head (if you have one) if there’s an AI policy or AI platform your company is meant to be using. In other words: If you’re feeling resistant, there might be a reason for that. ChatGPT is not cool with most organisations’ data policies, I’ll put it that way.

But if you are allowed to use AI (or you work for yourself and are considering using one), I would say that you’re paid for your speed and quality of work. So - would AI help you do that, or not? Just like with any tool - does using it make you worse at what you do? Using Google Docs to type out your blog is faster than hand writing it, scanning it into your computer, and sending it via email. But would anyone say using Google Docs is cheating? It is now a standard assumption you’ll use a docs program to create your work, and at the minimum use its spellcheck. Is using its spellcheck cheating? No - because most business owners care about getting value for money, and they’d rather pay you enough to use your platforms to do good work fast and well. Key there: you. If you turn in something completely AI generated that sucks, your excuse can’t be, “Well I didn’t do it.” You’re in the driver’s seat here, and as a professional it is your job to figure out how to use tools (like AI) in your job, professionally. 

Q: Any tips on how to figure out what kind of work-day structure is actually best for me? Like… I’ve heard that you’re supposed to tackle your most involved or complicated project first in the day, but my brain is only half working in the mornings…