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Squiggly Careers

#561 How to Spend More Time in Your Zone of Genius at Work

Squiggly Careers

AmazingIf

Business, Management, Careers

4.9838 Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How much of your working week are you spending on things you're genuinely great at, and how much is quietly draining you? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from Gay Hendricks' Zone of Genius framework, sparked by Emma Grede's book Start With Yourself, and turn it into one of the most practically useful exercises they've tried in a while. They work through all 4 zones live, competence, incompetence, excellence, and genius, sharing their own honest examples (including payroll, passive meetings, and branding). Then Helen shares a surprisingly simple way to use AI to analyse your diary and find out exactly how your time is really being spent. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Post-it® Brand. If today's episode sparked an idea, stick it down. Find out where to buy Post-it® products at go.3M.com/squiggly 🎯 What You'll Learn – What the four zones actually mean, and why spending too much time in your zone of excellence can be just as much of a trap as your zone of incompetence – How to map your own work across the four zones using Post-it® Notes – A simple diary audit method and how to use AI to turn your ticks into percentages (and real insight) – Why this is one of the best team exercises Helen and Sarah have come across for making strengths visible and actionable 📚 Resources Mentioned Start With Yourself — Emma Grede Zone of Genius — Gay Hendricks For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? 1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/ 2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/ 3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod 4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

My name is Karen and this is my NHS story.

0:04.0

You don't realise how blind you are until you have cataract surgery.

0:08.0

I was referred to a surgical hub and they booked us in for an operation.

0:13.0

It was about three weeks before I was there. It's very, very quick.

0:17.0

The government is opening more surgical hubs with more than 120 already operating across

0:22.0

England, so the NHS can be there for all of us when we need it.

0:25.6

Find your closest one at gov.uk slash NHS Fit for the Future.

0:30.9

My name is Beverley, and this is my NHS story.

0:34.5

I had to make regular journeys to my local CDC of blood tests because I had lymphoma.

0:42.1

I think it really helps to know that you've got somewhere local. It was really a godsend.

0:47.1

The government is opening new community diagnostic centres with many already available 12 hours a day,

0:51.9

seven days a week, so the NHS can be there for all of us when we need it.

0:55.2

Find your closest one at gov.uk slash NHS Fit for the Future.

0:58.9

Available Englandwide.

1:01.2

My name is Chevy and this is my NHS story.

1:04.5

Over a couple of days I was getting quite intense pain on the left side of my stomach.

1:08.1

So I called my doctors and then was referred to the

1:11.5

Elton CDC. It was literally a seamless, stress-free day. There was no anxiety or worry.

1:17.2

The government is opening new community diagnostic centres, with many already available

1:21.0

12 hours a day, seven days a week, so the NHS can be there for all of us when we need it.

1:25.3

Find your closest one at gov.uk slash NHS fit for the Future available England-wide. It just made me think differently about how I was

1:32.6

spending my time and whether I was having the most impact I could with my abilities.

...

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