It’s great for managers to hear that they should minimize meetings, hire people they really trust to do great work, and work to empower instead of frustrate. But what can you do as an employee to make a difference at your workplace? Request one of the following to start.

  1. Extended lunches – You’re probably eating lunch at your desk these days so this will be a game-changer. Ask for a 2 hour lunch and make it a working lunch. Get out, stretch your legs, and settle into a quiet place for a solid hour of uninterrupted work time. You’ll kick yourself for not asking sooner!
  2. Meeting agendas – If a meeting doesn’t have an agenda, you can argue that you won’t be able to prepare properly and won’t be able to bring your best contribution. In reality, agenda-less meetings tend to be a huge waste of time and using the “I want to give my best” argument is your quickest ticket back to productivity.
  3. To be excused – If the portions of a conversation relevant to you have been covered in a meeting, excuse yourself. Being in-demand is a huge asset and so long as you’re gracious and apologetic, you’ll get away with murder so long as you’re outproducing the people who stay for entire meetings. Note: Perhaps that’s the key to anything like this? If you’re making the requests but not following up with a boost in productivity, you’re just spoiling things for others. On the flipside, if you put the work in and set a precedent for a more flexible view of scheduling based on your results, that’s good for everybody.
  4. For more work – If you’re getting more work done because of the changes you’ve made in your process, ask for more work. You’re ringing the cash register now!
  5. For objective feedback – While being free of meetings and running around outside the office might improve your short-term productivity, make sure it doesn’t affect the long-term quality of your work. Especially for creative types, it’s important to get quality interaction with different perspectives and process-driven types who force you to think in new ways and try new things. If you’re not getting face time at the office and chit-chatting at meetings, you’ll need to put the time in other places to stay on the same page with coworkers. Make sure your manager knows you care about making that happen and that you want her help and feedback on how you’re doing. What else could you ask your boss for that I haven’t listed?