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“Do you have a strategy for your career?” This question was the beginning of a paradigm shift, as up until this point, I did not realise how much I had embodied the ‘working twice as hard’ as my unintentional career strategy.

The ‘work twice as hard‘ narrative is not a strategy. It’s a survival mechanism, and it’s costing us.

I saw some heads nod in recognition. For so many of us working in higher education — particularly those of us from Black, Asian and other minoritised backgrounds — this message was woven into the fabric of our upbringing. It came from love. It came from lived experience, and for a long time, it kept us moving.

However, here’s what I’ve come to understand. Working twice as hard doesn’t guarantee you’ll be seen twice as clearly. What is more likely is a guarantee to burn out twice as fast.

The trap of invisible labour

We talk about broken pipelines, but in reality, many of those who ‘leak’ out are already doing more than your job description asks of them. You are mentoring students who see themselves in you. You’re sitting on EDI committees. You’re translating policy into something that actually makes sense for the students in front of you. You’re carrying emotional labour that never appears on a workload model.

The painful irony is that labour often makes you indispensable in your current role while making you invisible for the next one.

I’ve lived this. The issue was never effort. It was visibility and strategic planning.

From working harder to working with intention

I’m not going to pretend I’ve got this perfectly figured out. I’m in the middle of my own career transition right now, and I’m learning in real time. However, here’s what’s shifting for me, and what I’d gently offer to anyone who recognises themselves in this:

1. Name the work you’re already doing, in language that travels. Your pastoral care is a student success strategy. Your curriculum redesign is academic leadership. Your mentoring is talent development. This isn’t about inflating what you do. It’s about refusing to let it be diminished.

2. Audit your “yes.” Not every opportunity is your opportunity. Before you say yes, ask: Does this move me closer to where I want to be, or does it just make me useful to someone else’s agenda? There’s a difference between generosity and self-erasure.

3. Build in public. Write about your practice. Present your work. Share what you’re learning, not just in internal reports that sit on a shared drive, but in spaces where your expertise can be recognised beyond your institution. (This blog is, in part, me taking my own advice.)

4. Find your people, then strategise together. Isolation makes overwork feel inevitable. Community makes strategic thinking possible. Some of the most important career conversations I’ve had weren’t in appraisals; they were with peers who understood the specific texture of navigating HE as a minoritised professional.

A note on rest

I want to be careful here. I’m not repackaging hustle culture in more palatable language. Strategic career planning is not about doing more; it’s about doing what matters and being deliberate about where your energy goes.

Sometimes the most strategic thing you can do is rest. Protect your time. Say no to the panel, the working group, the ‘quick favour’ that will quietly eat your afternoon. The sector will not collapse without you on that committee. I promise.

So what now?

If this resonates, I’d love to hear from you. What are you unlearning? What would “enough” look like in your career if overwork wasn’t the baseline?

I’ll be writing more here about building inclusive learning spaces, navigating academic careers with intention, and the messy, honest realities of trying to change systems from within.

This is a conversation, not a lecture. Pull up a chair.

Dr Amara Anyogu is a widening participation educator intentional about building environments – space, community, frameworks – to connect the dots between stakeholder intentions and successful outcomes in Higher Education. She writes about inclusive pedagogy, career strategy, and what it means to lead in higher education while being your whole self.