habits

Habits That Might Be Making You Less Productive

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Man_Checking_Phone

There are certain things that a lot of us do every day (sometimes without even really thinking about it) that may be making us less productive at work. According to author Monica Torres, these habits are really common. They’re things that a lot of us are used to doing, not realizing that they could be distracting us from our work and having a damaging effect on our ability to get things done.

So what are the habits that cause productivity to drop? Torres lists the following:

  • Checking your phone whenever you take a short break – After getting a task done, it makes sense to take a short break. But instead of checking your phone during this time, it would be much better if you stood up, stretched, took a short walk, or interacted with your coworkers. Your phone can be a huge distraction. Even though you may intend to only look at it for five or ten minutes, it can quickly stretch to half an hour or more without you even realizing it.
  • Multitasking – Multitasking is not especially efficient or effective. When you multitask, you’re not actually working on multiple things at the same time. You’re just switching back and forth between tasks, instead of focusing on one thing at a time. And this may cause you to be less productive.
  • Constantly checking team chat rooms for messages (and feeling like you have to be the first one to respond to every question) – It’s great that you want to interact with your coworkers and answer their questions. But this can take a lot of time and energy, and it can distract you from your own work. It’s important to check team chat rooms periodically, but you shouldn’t feel like you need to do it twenty times a day. And it’s not your responsibility to immediately answer every question. If you give the rest of your team members the chance to respond, it will take a lot of the burden off of you.
  • Having a lot of tabs open on your browser window – Every tab that you have open on your browser window is one more thing that could potentially distract you from your work. Try to limit the number of tabs you have open in order to focus your attention on what’s really important.
  • Scheduling a lot of meetings – There’s nothing that wastes more time than numerous meetings. Do yourself (and your coworkers) a favor, and only schedule meetings if they are truly important and necessary.

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Torres, M. (2021, October 26). 7 mindless habits that are making you unproductive at work. HuffPost. Retrieved from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mindless-work-habits-productivity_l_6176df26e4b066de4f65eed0

Five Habits That Can Cause Trouble for High Achievers

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High_Achiever

Do you always strive to do perfect work and impress your boss? Do you want to accomplish great things? Are you willing to expend whatever amount of effort is necessary to succeed in your endeavors? If so, then you’re a high achiever.

High achievers are often very successful and productive. They get things done, and they do things right. But research has shown that they’re also more likely to suffer from anxiety and anxiety-related medical conditions. The drive to achieve can have its downside.

But there is a way that you can alleviate your anxiety! According to psychiatrist Dimitrios Tsatiris, high achievers tend to have certain stress-inducing habits. To feel more relaxed and happy, Tsatiris suggests that you try to free yourself from them. Here’s a list of those habits and how to banish them from your everyday life.

  1. Never saying “no” – When people ask you for help, you probably rarely say “no.” You want to be viewed as talented, reliable, and productive, so you may be afraid that saying “no” to a request would tarnish that image. But it’s often not possible to take on every task and participate on every committee. If you’re overwhelmed with work, you occasionally need to push back, and explain that you’re simply not able to commit to another project.
  2. Never asking for help – When you’re a high achiever, you like to get things done your way so you might hesitate to ask others to help you with a project. In addition, you might feel like asking for help is a sign that you’re not up to the task. But you need realize that it’s not necessary for you to monitor every aspect of a project. You need to trust your coworkers to accomplish their assignments. And asking for help is not a sign of weakness. If getting assistance will help you to get your work done more effectively, then it’s the smart, savvy thing to do. It’s OK to delegate. Teamwork is essential on most projects.
  3. Making comparisons – As a high achiever, you probably have a tendency to compare yourself to extremely successful people, and may end up feeling like you’re not living up to expectations. This can be very upsetting and anxiety-provoking. If you find yourself doing this, try to stop yourself. Focus on your own accomplishments. Remind yourself that you are capable, competent, and successful. No comparisons are needed.
  4. Only focusing on the future – When you’re under pressure, you probably start to worry. And when you worry, you probably tend to focus on the things that might happen in the distant future. This is exhausting, distracting, and stressful. If this sounds like you, try to make an effort to focus on the present. Think about the things that are happening around you right now, and the things that you can accomplish right now. If you can keep your focus on the present, you’ll be more relaxed and productive.
  5. Not recognizing your worth – As a high achiever, you probably tend to measure your self-worth based on the things that you accomplish. When you accomplish something that you’ve been working on, you feel good about yourself – but that feeling probably tends to be short-lived. You most likely have to quickly move on to your next goal and your next achievement in order to feel worthy. To escape this cycle, remind yourself that you’re more than your accomplishments and more than an employee. You have strengths, interests, and abilities that have nothing to do with the projects that you complete at work.

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Tsatiris, D. (2020, November 29). 5 anxiety-provoking habits among high achievers. Psychology Today. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anxiety-in-high-achievers/202011/5-anxiety-provoking-habits-among-high-achievers

How to Break a Bad Habit at Work

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Breaking_Bad_Habit

Do you have bad habits that are holding you back at work? Maybe you procrastinate? Or maybe you eat lots of sugar in the morning and then crash in the afternoon? Or maybe you can’t seem to stop checking your phone?

Whatever it is, if you feel like it’s hindering your work and you’d like to stop, here’s how you can break that habit:

  1. Keep track of it – Before you can break a habit, you have to understand it. For one week, monitor your problematic behavior. Write down how often you do it each day, when you do it, and how much time you devote to it.
  2. Evaluate it – Once you understand the behavior, you need to determine whether it’s actually a bad thing. For example, let’s say that you now realize that you check your phone once every 15 minutes. Is that distracting you from your work and the things going on around you? Or is it just a quick check that doesn’t take up much time or effort? If you decide that the behavior really is a problem, proceed to step three.
  3. Stop doing it – OK, this is easier said than done. Habits are things that we often do automatically, without even thinking about it. Or they’re things that we love doing (like loading up on sugary snacks) and will miss.
    • If it’s something that you’re doing without really thinking about it, try writing a message on a Post-it Note (something like “STOP!” might work) and sticking it in an obvious place (like on your computer monitor). This should help to prevent you from unconsciously doing whatever it is that you want to stop doing.
    • If it’s something that you love doing, try your best to stop anyway. Remember that you already decided in step two that it was a problem. So it would be in your best interest to stop.
  4. Adopt a new, awesome habit – Your old, problematic habit probably served some sort of purpose. Maybe it helped you out when you were feeling tired, bored, or disconnected. So try adopting a new, healthy habit that will satisfy that same need. For instance, you could take a short walk outside every day at lunch, eat healthy snacks, or take a few minutes every morning to chat with your coworkers. Adopting a new, healthy behavior will make it easier for you to break your old, bad habit.
  5. Stick with it – Don’t give up! It can take a while to break a bad habit. But keep trying and you’ll get there eventually!

 

Rosen, A. G. (2010, October 26). 5 steps to breaking bad work habits. U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved from: https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2010/10/26/5-steps-to-breaking-bad-work-habits

 

Change Your Life in 30 Days

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Calendar2

Want to mix up your life? Maybe you’d like to learn something new, try out a new hobby, or kick a nasty habit?

Making changes can be exciting and beneficial – but it can also be a little daunting. It can be hard to know where to start, and it may seem a little overwhelming.

So if you’d like to make a change but you’re not sure how to do it, speaker Matt Cutts suggests that you just give it a try for 30 days. Now this may not be long enough to form a new habit. Research actually suggests that it could take anywhere from 18 days to 254 days. But it’s certainly long enough to give you a taste of what the new behavior is like, and perhaps inspire you to continue!

Watch Matt Cutts’s TED Talk to learn more about the 30-day approach.

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