Jul 8, 2020
Series How to Be Resilient: Good Habits for Changemakers — Some Hidden Habits That Can Be Undermining Your Work and How to Change Them.
You may not even realize that some of the bad habits you’ve developed over your lifetime are causing you problems at work. However, if you have any of the habits below, you could be affecting your job (or business) if you’re not aware.
Lack of Sleep
If you have the bad habit of staying up late because you see yourself as a night owl, but you have to get up early to go to work, you are making a huge mistake. Not sleeping enough at night can not only impact your performance at work but it could also cause health problems — including cardiovascular disease. Which is a scary outcome! The other not nice part about being sleep deprived is that it starts to act like a trauma and all kinds of stress symptoms emerge.
this one is simple — but requires a mind shift. You may be a night owl — but during working days you can’t be. Save that for weekends and breaks and then really enjoy it. You can train yourself to sleep earlier Sunday night to Thursday night and then change for the weekend. It is just a case of practice and making that inner decision that your mental health and capacity to work and make money are a priority.
Not Eating Breakfast
While you don’t have to eat a giant breakfast at the crack of dawn to be healthy, at some point during the morning you should eat something — even if it’s just a banana with some peanut butter on it. When you don’t eat when you’re hungry, you can cause your body to be weaker than it needs to be and your brain unable to focus well. Obviously this has an effect on your productivity.
It’s common for people not to be able to manage a substantial breakfast first thing but having a protein snack handy for when you get to work helps. A smoothie works well for this.
Reading Emails Constantly
Even at work you should not check your email all the time. Checking email (and social media) is a trap that might take you down a rabbit hole of no return. Instead, set a timer to check your email and social media or any other communication channel just three or four times a day at set times.
That alone frees up mega amounts of time and it is a bit of a relief to know that actually you can break the addiction. Yep — that’s what it is. But it definitely breakable. Try it.
Sitting for Long Periods of Time
It often can’t be helped, but if you sit for work then go home and sit some more, you’re making a big mistake. This can impact your health and make it hard for you to do your job at all. Find ways to move around your office or workplace more, whether it’s taking the steps or volunteering for the food runs so you can walk around.
Complaining about Everything
This can be a habit that sneaks up on you. You may not even realize that you are doing it. However, most people tend to complain more openly than they express joy openly. Isn’t that a weird thing? But it is true. In order to stop doing this, recognize the behaviour and say two nice things every time you hear yourself be negative and complaining.
Comparing Yourself to Others
Anytime you start comparing yourself to others, it’s a mistake. It’s also a dangerous mistake. The reason it’s so bad is that you have no idea what the person has really experienced in their life or what happens to them at home. You cannot compare because so much is different. It can erode your confidence which feels horrible.
Just remind yourself that you are trying to compare your inside self with someone else’s outside behaviour and it just doesn’t work.
Thinking You’re a Great Multitasker
Here is some news for you; no one is good at multitasking. If you’re trying to multitask — even if it’s required at work, it’s going to be hard to get things done accurately. Multitasking just ends up with mediocre work. Do what you can to get out of that situation so that you can do your best work by fully focusing and being mindful about one thing at a time. Multi-tasking is vastly over rated.
If you can replace these very unhelpful habits with their opposites, you may end up becoming irreplaceable at work or you might boost your business to the next level. The main thing you want to do is to at least recognize which habits you currently have that undermine you so that you can plan to combat them with shifts and adaptations that boost you. It makes sense!
This article is part of my July series on Good Habits For Changemakers: How To Develop A Resilient Mindset … so watch this space for more ideas and support.
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