I define “work” as activities that are advancing you toward the career and life you want. If they aren’t, then they are not work. This is true even if they appear on your work calendar or you’ve always done them, and they should not have more esteem in your mind than playing Tetris. That doesn’t mean you won’t do them—again, remember the average office worker wastes 1.7 hours per day on personal e-mail, phone calls, gossip, and so on—but you shouldn’t harbor any illusions that your unnecessarily long conference call is anything but disguised and ineffective leisure time.
