There are dozens of articles on the web about how to break bad habits… and there are a lot of bad habits! But what sort of habits do you have that are hindering your work performance? Here are some of the habits you should consider breaking and what sort of habits to make in their place that will help you perform to the best of your ability at work and at home:
Eating Habits
Break the Habit: Not Eating Enough
If you skip breakfast or lunch, you are going to get tired and lose your ability to concentrate. This hinders your ability to perform at your best and reduces your level of productivity.
Make the Habit: Eat More Small Meals
Replace this bad habit of not eating enough with eating more small meals or snacks throughout the day. If you don’t have time for breakfast, make sure you have an apple and a granola bar in your purse.
Social Media Habits
Break the Habit: Constantly Checking
According to asianefficiency.com, “One of the key losses of productivity in your office can come down to the routine things you have to do every day to keep up. Everyday tasks like email can eat up all your time because you literally could read and respond to email all day.” This applies to your life at home as well, constantly checking your phone for new emails and Facebook updates is a huge waste of time.
Make the Habit: Set a Time to Check
Start making a new habit of setting specific times throughout the day to check your email and other social media sites. You will save time and you will save your productivity.
Not Getting Enough Sleep
Break the Habit: Putting off Going to Bed
Whether you are watching TV, checking social media, or doing the dishes – putting off going to bed is a slippery slope. You aim for 10 p.m. and you end up closing your eyes at 1 a.m. This is terrible for your health and it also doesn’t help your performance at work.
Make the Habit: Set a Bedtime Window
According to fastcompany.com, you shouldn’t set a bedtime for yourself, “Instead, create a ‘bedtime window,’ of about an hour or so, so you’re not pressuring yourself unnecessarily. ‘All is not lost if you don’t hit the sheets at the exact time every night. In fact, pressuring yourself to sleep on command at a specific time can lead to insomnia,’”
Dressing for Daily Life
Break the Habit: Dressing Down
The way you dress says a lot about how you feel about yourself and how you feel about the work you are doing. If you continually show up to work dressed down and un-showered you don’t portray success to yourself or to others.
Make the Habit: ‘Dress for Success’
Asianefficiency.com says, “When you get up in the morning and take time to make yourself look good, then you feel confident about the day’s work.” Asian efficiency also suggests the following for those who are constantly running late:
- Shower the night before
- Pick your clothes the day before
- Wake up a few minutes early for basic hygiene
Multitasking
Break the Habit: Multitasking
According to huffingtonpost.com, “Multitasking is a real productivity killer. Research conducted at Stanford University confirms that multitasking is less productive than doing a single thing at a time. The researchers found that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information cannot pay attention, recall information, or switch from one job to another as well as those who complete one task at a time.”
Make the Habit: Focus
The Same study from Stanford University as above said, “When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully.” Instead of multitasking try to focus on one thing at a time, you will be able to finish each task more quickly and efficiently.