Five ways to kick bad work habits. Picture: Thinkstock
BLAME your boss, your colleagues, the market or the GFC but if you
are struggling at work it could be because you have never been taught
how to work.
You might be committed to your role and willing to do a good job.
Most of us are neither lazy nor unwilling. But we are not working
efficiently because we are working hard but not always smart.Many employees have years of work experience during which they accumulate work habits. Some of these habits are great and enable us to succeed. But some can be improved.
By changing a few of your work habits it can have a huge impact on your performance and your work life balance.
Cyril Peupion from Primary Asset Consulting gives five tips on how to kick the most common poor work habits.
1. Inbox mania
Thirty-four per cent of us have our inbox constantly open. And with our blackberry, iphones or ipad, emails are following us everywhere, at work and at home. Emails can be a very strong distractor and reduce your concentration on important work.
One simple tip: Batch
Decide to check your emails once, twice or three times per day, outside of this close your inbox. Do not check your emails.
2. Procrastination
On one side we check our emails constantly, but on the other side we need to read an email two three or four times before actually doing something with it. And our inbox is full of emails not actioned.
Apply a simple rule
Whenever you read an email in your inbox, you are not allowed to jump to the next one until you have made a decision. If you need less than 5minutes, do it now. If you need more than 5minutes, schedule it now. Then file or delete the email and move to the next one.
3. Messy desk
A messy desk is an issue for three reasons:
1. You are wasting time looking for information you already have (on average 6 weeks per year).
2. A messy desk will reduce your focus and concentration.
3. A messy desk interferes with your ability to prioritise your workload.
One simple tip: separate information and action
The information (the document) needs to be filed in your filing system with clear labels and the action (what you need to do) needs to be in your calendar.
4. Lack of focus
You like doing several things at once. You start working on a document while checking a few emails, responding to phone calls and browsing the web. You end up with 10 emails and five documents open, and many unfinished tasks.
One of the key characteristics of high performers is focus. It is the ability to immerse yourself in what you are doing, whether at work or at home.
One simple tip: Book meetings with yourself
Book time in your diary to focus on a specific task and do not allow any interruptions or distractions during that time.
5. Poor prioritisation
Most people prioritise because of urgency and deadlines. High performers prioritise first and foremost because of value and impact. To decide how to spend your time, always ask yourself a simple question: what impact will this have long term on my performance and the performance of my business. This will dictate what you should spend your time on.
All of the above is simple. But it is rarely applied. And as a result we struggle at work effectively. To increase performance many people believe they need to do more. As a result we spend less time with our loved ones, neglect our health and put our passions and hobbies on the back burner. We end up frustrated, out-of-control and stressed. And we still struggle to achieve our business goals.
Cyril Peupion is the author of ‘Work Smarter: Live Better'.
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