This Lazy Approach to Your Career Could Help You Make More Money in 60 Days You don't need to hustle harder to make more — you just need to play the game differently.

If hard work guaranteed success, the hardest-working people would be the richest. But they aren't. Employees working overtime, answering emails at all hours and going above and beyond for their employers aren't the ones seeing their salaries soar. Instead, they're often stuck with stagnant wages while their company announces record profits, and their pay barely keeps up with inflation.

Meanwhile, employees who set boundaries, job hop when needed and refuse to do more than what they're paid for are making more money. The corporate world tells us that working harder leads to financial growth, but the reality is that employers don't reward effort. They reward leverage.

And if you play your cards right, you can make more money in the next 60 days by doing less, not more. Here's how.

How to stop working for less and get paid what you're worth

For decades in the workplace, we've been told to go the extra mile. Show initiative. Take on more responsibility. Prove yourself.

But do companies actually reward the extra effort with a meaningful raise or promotion?

More often than not, overworking signals to your employer that they can get more out of you without increasing your pay. When you take on more tasks without pushing back, you teach them that this is just part of your role now.

Related: How You Can Leverage Pay Transparency to Make More Money

If you're working long hours, taking on extra projects, or consistently going above and beyond, here's a tough reality. You might be helping boost your employer's profits with unpaid labor. The first step in making more money is simple: do less.

For example, start enforcing your job description and cut out tasks that aren't officially part of your role. If your manager tries to pile more work onto your plate, ask, "Which of my current responsibilities should I deprioritize to make room for this?" This puts the responsibility back on them to justify why you should take on extra work without extra pay.

Then, figure out what your time is actually worth. Divide your salary by the real hours you work, not just what's on paper. If your job pays $80,000 a year but you're regularly working sixty-hour weeks, your true hourly wage is significantly lower than you think. And if you're making less per hour than people in lower-stress jobs with fewer responsibilities, you might want to consider job hopping.

The easiest way to get job offers without applying

A common misconception about job hunting is that it requires grueling hours of searching, applying and networking. But the truth is, the best career opportunities don't come from firing off hundreds of applications. They come from being in demand.

The easiest way to start making more money is to attract recruiters instead of chasing job postings — and it doesn't take much. Here's my approach:

1. Update your LinkedIn with clear, searchable keywords related to your industry.
2. Turn on Open to Work settings but in private mode so only recruiters can see it.
3. Engage with posts in your field.
4. Commenting occasionally signals that you're active and relevant.

These are low-effort moves that can put you on a recruiter's radar, opening doors to better-paying opportunities without much effort.

The real power move is signaling that you're valuable without outright saying you're looking for a job. A vague LinkedIn post about reflecting on career growth or being excited about what's next is enough to spark interest. Recruiters and hiring managers love candidates who aren't actively job-seeking but might be persuaded.

If you do this right, you'll start getting inbound job offers.

Related: AI Is Standing Between You and Your Next Job — Here's How to Get Your Application Into Human Hands.

How to make employers pay you more without doing more work

Once you've set the stage for better opportunities, it's time to capitalize on them. The fastest way to increase your income isn't waiting for an annual raise — it's leveraging competing job offers.

If a recruiter reaches out with a job that pays more, you now have two options. You can take the offer and level up your salary immediately, or you can take that offer back to your current employer and see if they'll match it. Companies will almost always pay more to keep an existing employee than to hire and train someone new.

Even if you don't have a competing offer, you can still negotiate a raise with your current employer. The key is to avoid the mistake of justifying a salary increase with effort. Instead, frame it around impact. Communicate something like:

"Over the past year, I've delivered measurable impact in key areas. Given my contributions and market value, I'd love to discuss adjusting my salary to reflect that."

No begging. No justifications about how hard you've worked. Just a clear statement of why you deserve more money.

If they say no, don't waste time trying to convince them. The smartest financial move you can make is to keep job hopping in your back pocket. Americans who switch jobs are seeing pay gains nearly double that of those who stay put.

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Rethink how you play the game and apply these strategies

Applying these strategies can help you make more in 60 days. You don't need to hustle harder to make more money. You just need to play the game differently. The people making the most in their careers aren't necessarily the hardest workers. They're the ones who know when to push, when to hold back and when to move on.

If you're ready to test this approach, I'm running my 30-Day Lazy Girl Job Challenge on Substack. Inside, I'll walk you through the exact steps to cut unnecessary work, attract better job offers and negotiate higher pay without the stress of traditional career advice.

The people who benefit the most in the workforce aren't the ones grinding away for decades. They're the ones who work smarter, not harder. Join the challenge, and let's make your job work for you, not the other way around.