Imagine your work activities plotted on a simple matrix:
High Income Impact + High Visibility = Career Goldmine Examples: Leading strategic initiatives, presenting to executives, solving critical problems
High Income Impact + Low Visibility = Hidden Treasure Examples: Backend improvements, process optimization, mentoring others
Low Income Impact + High Visibility = Fool's Gold Examples: Attending every meeting, responding quickly to emails, office socializing
Low Income Impact + Low Visibility = Career Quicksand Examples: Administrative tasks, redundant reporting, perfectionism on low-stakes work
Most professionals spend 70% of their time in the bottom two quadrants. High earners flip this ratio.