I used to have moments where I felt like I was working harder, but my salary stayed the same. I was working evenings and weekends, but my paycheck didn't change. It felt like I was trapped in a cycle where just being present mattered more than the results I delivered.
The problem is that monthly salary is a broken metric.
The real metric: Effective Hourly Rate
A while ago, I started tracking a different number: my effective hourly rate.
Here’s how it works: you take your monthly salary and divide it by the hours you actually work.
This simple number changed everything for me. It showed me that if you and your colleague have the same salary, but he works 6 hours while you work 8, he is actually getting paid more.
But what about promotions?
You might think those extra hours count toward a future promotion.
But what if your colleagues who work less are just focusing on more important things and have the same chance of being promoted?
There are a few key things you can do at your job to get noticed and promoted. And there are many things that are just unnecessary.
What counts as "work"?
I want you to think about what "real work" is.
For me, it’s the focused effort that creates new value and improves your skills. This is hard to replicate.
Then there's "shallow work": responding to routine emails, attending constant status update meetings, searching for info. These tasks don't create much new value and are easily repeatable. A study found this kind of work can take up to 60% of our day.
If your boss expects you to be in lots of inefficient meetings and answer emails instantly, you might be in the wrong company.
Learning vs. Hobbies
What about learning new tools and frameworks?
It’s simple. If you're learning something because you want to, not because it's required for your job, it's a hobby. You can't call it work.
Your growth at work is measured by your salary. You might be told you're a senior and doing a senior's job, but if you're not getting a senior's salary, you are not a senior.
I explain all this in much more detail in my new video.
Go watch the full thing, unless you'd rather spend that time in another "very important" meeting that could have been an email.
Top comments (0)