Stay away from these habits
Forming a habit can be a good or a bad thing, depending on the nature of the habit. For example, paying close attention to detail and making sure your workspace is clean and tidy are good habits to form in the office. We are all also aware of some bad habits workers can form. Research shows that any habit requires a minimum of 21 days to change. That sounds like a lot of work to put into breaking a bad habit. Wouldn’t it be easier to avoid forming the bad habit in the first place? Here are a few bad working habits, as well as some tips on how to avoid them proactively.
Working Through Lunch It’s not uncommon for your day to get out of hand before noon. The reality is, sometimes working through lunch is unavoidable. However, forming this habit can actually be detrimental to your productivity. We need to take breaks and give ourselves time to cool down and regroup. If you’re having a stressful day at the office, it’s best to take a full lunch rather than to try to power through. Try setting strict time boundaries on your lunchtime and start viewing it as its own work assignment. Idealizing For most of us, the grass is always greener at another job. When we’ve had a bad day in the office, it’s easy to relive our childhood daydreams of exciting and dangerous professions such as being an astronaut or firefighter.. Unfortunately, idealizing another line of work makes it difficult to be happy in your current position. Instead, try making a list of all the good things your job provides for you. Documenting each small joy will help you appreciate the job you have. Work Time Distractions Hilarious YouTube videos and entertaining flash games are added to the Internet every minute of every day. It’s easy to waste hours of work time on these simple distractions. This is a bad habit to form, and one that should definitely be avoided. To help, schedule “small breaks” throughout the day. Reward yourself after finishing a large project or after working solidly for several hours. Creating these time boundaries will help prevent forming a habit of being sidetracked. Forming bad habits can be easier than you’d think and breaking a bad habit can be much more difficult than you’d imagine. The next time you notice yourself slipping into any of these bad habits, take some time to consider what good habits you could form to combat them.
