(NOTE: For the purposes of this question I'm defining work as "actively contributing through some skill to a task that directly furthers your goals in your job as they are understood between you and the company/your superior")
Typing this as I start my shift at my wfm job, where I'm feeling a little lost. Part of the issue is that I basically made the job up - I used to be part time contract until I pitched my current role to a superior during a talent inquiry a few months ago and then she decided it was a good idea, so there's no well defined list of tasks I can latch onto. Don't wanna go too much into it but half my time is spent doing the stuff I was doing on contract, which takes basically little to no effort, while the other half is left unstructured to me where I'm to do research, gather and consolidate feedback about user experiences, and act as a generalist "fixer" type for intermediate level tech and workflow stuff.
I feel like I spend so much time in my workday doing nothing, and I'm both scared that will reflect poorly on me for my continued prospects at the company and guilty that I might be slacking (only because it's nonprofit, otherwise I wouldn't care). Also probably a bit of :among-drip: syndrome mixed in there because this is my first non grocery store job.
Idk I just vomited all that out there. It's a free website :shrug-outta-hecks:
Yeah. Today constituted semi-busy, and I was working for...2 hours so far (if even). Went to eat with my dad, continued working on a woodworking project I'm doing, love on my cats
I honestly was like you at first op, vis a vis this:
Your boss is not gonna notice provided you do what you need to. I always do work as it relates to coworkers that I care about (and sometimes go beyond), but honestly, just doing the occasional additional effort for people I like (and /or doing things I like) coupled with doing your normal stuff properly will gain you a very positive reputation.
Gaining that is huge, because first impressions and what other people believe about you will matter almost as much as what you actually do.
the big secret is they have no idea how hard you were working both now and before.
Exactly. As long as you continue to be timely when needed (and this is especially true if you help out other coworkers that are in a bind), you're not going to be hassled about how much you're doing (or not doing)