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I love this comment becuase you get right to the heart of things: What, exactly, are you being productive FOR? What is the end goal? If you are not being productive at work in order to be a star performer at your work, then what else is there? So in fact, this article is all about productivity. This is the stuff that will make your time pay off.

–Penelope

I think it depends on the company you work for. I have been at my current company for 7 years. During that time, I have said "no" to offers that were not good for my career, and "yes" to offers that were good for my career. I think I have come out ahead.

The first was when my boss wanted to decrease his number of direct reports and tried to make one of my peers my supervisor. This proposed new supervisor was incompetent, and there was no way I was going to risk my career by working for this person. So I said, "no way", my boss said "okay". Remarkably, my relationship with by boss improved, and I avoided a career landmine.

The second was when my boss wanted me to take on a struggling employee as a direct report, but would not make accommodations in my workload to ensure that I could properly manage the person. It was another setup for failure. So again, I said no, and there were no negative repercussions.

After that, I created and proposed a position in my department with a much higher level of responsibility, which would capitalize on my skills and talents. The director agreed, so I am now reporting to her, working at a higher level in the department in a job I like, and making a lot more money.

Since, then, my previous boss's position has been offered to me, and I again said "no". (My peers were astonished by my resolve on this and thought I was crazy.) It was yet nother sure setup for failure, would have been a lot more stressful than my current position, and would not have lined up with my career goals. My director was not happy about it at first, but seems to have gotten over it. She hopefully sees that it would not have been a good move for the company, her, or me.

Sorry for the long comment, but I wanted to illustrate that it is possible to take this kind of control and still be successful. Of course, it depends on your company's tolerance for this type of assertive behavior.

It also helps that I am considered a "superstar" employee because of the quality work that I do. I was also willing to lose my job if necessary when each one of these situations came up. That would have been better than accepting the "promotions" that were not in line with my personal needs and career trajectory.

Once again, you have amazed me. In the real world, if you pass up a promotion, you will very likely never be offered another one. Where do you get this information you write about?

Let me retitle this column:

If you want to be lame at work and have trouble finding another job for the rest of your life, take my advice.

How do you get paid for the garbage you put on here.

Interesting post. While you make some great points I think each of these ways to make you a 'Superstar' is contextual or situational.

Having one 'gap' on your resume, whether to think or just take a break/spend time with family, etc can be OK, but too many gaps or a gap for too much time could be perilous to the career.

On turning down promotions, I can certainly see where that may apply sometimes, but in my experience if I like and trust my boss, then I've really put my career in his/her hands and if they've offered me a new position I've almost always taken it. Turning down promotions is fine when you're just starting out, but if you really want to build a career eventually you have to move up. And those small raises come handy when it comes to buying the house, investing for the kids college etc.

As for cutting corners to make time for the gym, I just can't see that that's a recipe for work success.

Finally, love the starting a blog idea. It's a great release and a phenomenal way build your community.

Best of luck in your new venture.