This may sound an old cliche. But holds true in 21st century also. Make your work the focal point. 
If you don’t take work seriously, your job seriously, nobody will take you seriously. Get this funda fixed in your head. Only your on-the-job performance at the end of the day is what matters to your company. Are you a profit center for the company or a liability, is how you are judged by the management. You are, in other words, a profit and a loss balance-sheet for the company. And if you prove to be in the assets column of your company, take it from me, YOU have made your position very strong in the dept and your company. And this positioning is of a greater importance for your survival, your comforts, your satisfaction on the job and your personal growth and happiness.
I have seen in my working life, all those who get involved in other than their assigned work, they have a very short sighted vision. If you know what I mean. Do you remember, in our primary class, we all read a story about a Turtle and hare Race? Who WINS the race? So the moral of the story is …”Don’t try to take short cuts in life and surely not on the job. It backfires sooner or later when you get exposed and by then the damage is already done. It surely is not a “Work Smart” approach.
Again, let me repeat, work smart approach is creating a position for yourself in the company that speaks volumes in terms of your efficiency, professionalism and company interest at the heart. Nothing less. The awards and rewards follow after you create this position for yourself. And even if they don’t, you are still a winner, because someone smarter is willing to higher you to add you into company assets. YOU never loose. Remember one thing well, first, we work for ourselves, our family, our upliftment, our betterment, our future. The ultimate GOAL of yours must be securing your future, your personal growth, your progress in life and making yourself professionally competent to keep personal stock value high and in demand, always.
This position makes you a fine human being with all values packed inside you. You must feel a great sense of achievement, humbly. And feel on top of the world.
Because, great achievers are not only admired by all others around them but respected too. And rewarded often.
