As the title of the article suggests, habits can have a tremendous effect on your work skills. These small work habits will eventually grow into something far better for you and help you achieve more of something we all look forward to: productivity.
How can you create positive work habits? It's usually best to start small and focus on just one or two areas that need work. You can get overwhelmed if you attempt to alter all of your working practices at once. Concentrate on a single area that can have a big impact on your entire routine.
To that end, we’ve listed 8 work habits that you can incorporate into your routine as a step toward building a successful career.
8 Work Habits That Can Improve Your Productivity
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Track your work habits
What you don't measure, you can't improve. The first step in developing excellent work habits is to keep track of them. Keeping a log of your daily routines will hold you accountable and provide you with the facts you need to determine if you're on track or at least shows you the part that you need to work on improving. Every employee has a “sweet spot” in time when they are the most attentive, so try to find yours!
You can track your work habits with pen and paper, a simple Google Sheets, or a premium program like Streaks.
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Develop A Healthy Routine
Setting a routine that you can start and end your business day with can play a huge role in your productivity level.
Starting your business day can be comprised of reviewing your email, updating your to-do list, and prioritizing your tasks for the day. Ending your business day could entail conducting a final review of your email, analyzing your day and the progress of your to-do list, and planning for the next day. These procedures establish a "plan, do, review, repeat" approach that allows you to be more organized, deliberate with your time, and productive.
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Develop Good Time-Management Habits
Time management is one of the most critical components of productivity. Having a thorough grasp of how you spend your time will prevent you from developing unhealthy work habits such as procrastinating, wasting time on social media or working for late hours. Working on developing this habit can also ensure that you're devoting enough time to the proper things and concentrating on the most critical tasks.
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Avoid Multitasking
Multitasking diminishes cognitive ability, which in turn reduces productivity.
Writing down a to-do list while prioritizing a few critical items on it is a wonderful method to avoid multitasking. Then go through the work list and set aside a certain period of time to focus entirely on one specific thing. This strategy is called "timeboxing", and it can significantly increase your productivity.
The inverse of multitasking, known as single-tasking, pairs well with focusing on completing a limited set of key daily chores.
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Prioritize Rest
As the barriers between work and personal life grow increasingly blurred, aim for at least eight hours of sleep on Sunday/Saturday nights to be well rested for the week ahead.
Try to take at least one day off per week. This will help prevent burnout and maintain a healthy social life in the long run.
Most employees alike spend many hours a day staring at computer screens, which can cause "computer vision syndrome," which hinders your productivity. Establishing a habit of taking frequent pauses every 2 hours allows the body and mind to relax for a while.
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Give Yourself Deadlines for Work
Even if your profession does not require actual deadlines, inventing them can be extremely beneficial. This creates the mentality that work "has" to be completed in a timely manner. You can develop a good flow of continuous work if you can make it a habit.
It's worth noting that the deadline should be something reasonable and not unduly stressful. Trying to compress two hours of work into 30 minutes may result in blunders and stress. On the other hand, you don't want a too simplistic deadline. Otherwise, it contradicts the purpose of creating one in the first place.
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Work on Your Communication & People Skills
Getting along with coworkers will make your job more fun while also assisting you in moving upward. Fostering healthy relationships with coworkers creates a better support network for when you need it the most.
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Before You Say Yes to Tasks, Take a Pause
When a colleague arrives at your desk needing something done from you, take a deep breath to appraise the situation by asking questions such as; was this a formal request? Was it just a suggestion? What would happen if I said "yes" to this, will this an occurring task that will affect my workload? This will allow you to assess the situation and keeps you from being a people pleaser that will lead you to over-commit yourself.
