The New Year is almost here, and people are starting to come up with resolutions to better themselves in 2017. For employees, it is the time to start afresh as many are striving to become more productive next year. This is why it’s time to pinpoint one’s bad habits to break in order to be a better and more efficient worker in the years ahead.
Many are unaware that a person’s daily habits contribute to the decline of productivity in the workplace, and this includes the various ways a worker wastes his time while at work. Lack of organization, discipline, and a lack of a sense of responsibility are also reasons why some office workers give a poor performance.
Here are seven bad habits to break to be more productive in 2017.
Tardiness
When one is always running late, he or she starts the day in a frenzied manner, which doesn’t allow for much time for planning and reflection. To be more productive, have an early bedtime and wake up at a time which would give one a sufficient chunk of the day to plan the day’s activities, eat breakfast at a leisurely pace, and travel to the office with extra minutes to spare.
Constantly checking email or social media pages
According to Business Insider, every time a person checks his email, he loses up to 25 minutes of work time. You tend to lose more time by checking on your social media accounts at work. Though you may do it on your smartphone and not in the company’s computer, keep in mind that you’re still wasting time, and that tracking your friends’ Facebook or Twitter accounts should be done after office hours.
Procrastination
When an employee doesn’t want to deal with a difficult task, he or she will find ways to procrastinate either by tidying his desk, rearranging his files, and the like—anything that will make him look as if he were busy. To start the year right, one must deal with the hardest task at the start of the work day as the willpower to do decreases throughout the day.
Rushing to finish a task when mentally fatigued
Trying to rush through a task when you’re mentally tired is a bad idea, as your output may not be as good or accurate as it’s expected to be. Give yourself a 5-minute break to take a breather before going right back to the task at hand.
Entertaining time-wasters
Got a chatty cubicle mate who just loves to dish on everyone else? This coming year is the time to focus on one’s work stop entertaining time-wasters. As previously reported by Jobs & Hire, time-wasters, such as the office gossip, will be discouraged from talking your ear off if you tell them that you’re busy and have no time to talk.
