We do most of our daily activities out of habit, some of which we notice and some of which go unnoticed.
However, some habits are always noticeable, though perhaps not immediately. For example, when we become less productive at work. So let's take a look at some non-obvious bad habits that can affect our work.
Bad habit 1. Always checking email
Throughout the day, work emails are filled with more and more messages, and most employees always keep their inboxes open and check emails less than six seconds after they arrive.
This may not seem like a bad habit, but it's actually a huge distraction from important work. Constantly checking your email is not a task that belongs on the list of the most important things to do.
The solution: check your email once a day at a specific time instead of looking at new messages throughout the day. This way you can concentrate on more important tasks and be more productive.
Bad habit 2. Keeping a lot of tabs open
You probably have between 5 and 100 tabs open right now, but remember that keeping too many tabs open will decrease your productivity in most cases:
- Instead of working on one task, you're putting it off “for later.” Or you switch between tabs in search of a task to do now or later, or you may be doing several tasks at once, but in the end, you don't finish any of them because you haven't made up your mind.
- You have to search for the right page among a large number of pages, which takes some time and you get distracted.
The solution: after completing a task, close all the tabs you're using, and only then open the new ones you need to complete another task.
Bad habit 3. Staying connected 24/7, even on weekends
It may seem like you should be available to your colleagues at any time, even on your day off. However, such availability does not allow you to relax, spend quality time with your family, or do any other things.
It has been proven that people who are unable to psychologically disconnect from work, without a balance between work and rest, feel much more tired and work much less efficiently, wasting a lot of time.
The solution: Everyone needs time to devote to their personal affairs and relaxation. To do this, it is important to set clear boundaries between working hours and free time. If you don't have time to complete your tasks during working hours, take care of organizing your work by properly planning and prioritizing tasks.
So, any bad habit can be replaced with a useful action, and the above tips will help you do that. As it turned out, they are quite simple and seemingly obvious.
