You should be allotting some of your time to reading or research — something that expands your horizons.
Beth Comstock, former vice chair of General Electric, recommends devoting 10% of every workday to these activities. In an interview with LinkedIn, Comstock shared some career advice:
"The first thing you have to say to people is: Make room for discovery. If I manage myself, I manage a team, I manage a division, there's a certain amount of your budget, your time, your people that need to be focused on what's next.
"And it could be 10% — you know for yourself. I think usually 10% is a pretty good way to think about it.
"Think about how you manage your own time. Can I spend 10% of my time a week reading, going to sites like Singularity, TED, talking to people, going to industry events, asking people: What trends are you seeing? What are you nervous about? What are you excited about?"