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&lt;p&gt;A new study may support your lazier instincts: Swedish researchers have found that helping coworkers may trip up your own productivity by creating distractions you need to recover your focus from.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But that&#39;s short term thinking. There are a few other factors to consider before you go exclusively &quot;every man for himself.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&#39;s how extending a hand might boost your career—and a few ways to make sure it won&#39;t hurt you:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. You&#39;ll cement relationships&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You never know when you might need help on the job—or a reference for your next one. A grateful coworker will be more likely to have your back when you need something. And the team building can be channeled into future projects: a greater sense of trust and a built-in readiness to help each other can boost productivity the next time you&#39;re working in groups. It&#39;s also a great antidote for competitive and stressful work environments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. You&#39;ll build a reputation of a team player&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While it&#39;s important to draw boundaries on your time for the sake of your own work, it looks great in your boss&#39;s eyes to be prioritizing the health of your &lt;em&gt;team&lt;/em&gt; and its projects, not just your part of the work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It also helps you create a united front, if problems arise: if you and your coworkers are encountering the same issues and talking about it, it&#39;s much more powerful to seek a solution from a manager together than if any one person brings it up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. You&#39;ll gain better understanding of company processes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Help your coworker—you might just learn something. Teaching another person about something you know, be it software or a personal trick for cold calling, articulating what you know can help you better understand those skills yourself. It can also make you more aware of what you &lt;em&gt;don&#39;t&lt;/em&gt; know.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And if a problem&#39;s totally new to you, or outside of your normal realm of operations, helping your coworker can give you a peak into a side of the business you wouldn&#39;t otherwise get to encounter. You can never know too much about how your company runs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And three ways to keep your helpfulness from sabotaging you:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Value your time&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s great to be available to your team members, but try to not be &lt;em&gt;too&lt;/em&gt; available: be sure to mention any hard stops you have whenever meeting with someone, and don&#39;t be afraid to say no or ask to speak another time if you&#39;re too busy to pitch in. Don&#39;t sacrifice your own work!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Be a little less approachable&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s great to be helpful, but if half your office starts dropping by to talk about their issues, you&#39;re going to expend a lot of mental energy refocusing on your own to-do list.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to set aside time for discussing issues in advance and ask &quot;walk ins&quot; to come back at a designated time. Wearing headphones while you work—even if you&#39;re not listening to anything!--can make passersby think twice before disturbing you, while a pile of books on the chair in front of your desk can shorten visiting time. Sneaky, but effective.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Don&#39;t assume responsibility that&#39;s not yours&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s not very neighborly to flat out say no—so try &quot;referring&quot; instead! If you&#39;re truly too busy, tell a colleague that you have your hands full at the moment, but so-and-so in research could probably help them out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And if you find you&#39;re getting low level questions, or requests for help outside of your area of expertise (ie. IT issues, or questions about vacation time) don&#39;t waste your time doing someone else&#39;s job—refer, refer, refer!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read More:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-you-should-think-twice-before-helping-someone-at-work-2012-8&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Here&#39;s Why You Should Think Twice Before Helping Someone At Work&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2012.00517.x/abstract&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Helping and Quiet Hours: Interruption-Free Time Spans Can Harm Performance&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/blog/workplace-issues/people-skills-hacked-3-tricks-from-the-apple-geniuses/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;People Skills, Hacked: 3 Tricks from Apple Geniuses&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Cathy Vandewater

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