Been working the same job for a while? Although this isn’t always necessarily a bad thing, becoming too comfortable in your current role can cause you to pick up a bad habit or two. Take some time to re-evaluate your work day and figure out what bad work habits are holding you back from advancing.
Here are some bad work habits that you should work on cutting out immediately:
Not challenging yourself.
This is the biggest problem once an employee gets too comfortable at work. After years of working in the same position, it’s going to become boring if you let it. Don’t let it! Find ways to challenge and better yourself daily. Take a class, attend an industry conference, or simply see what you can learn from your coworkers. Stop turning your nose up to newer or younger employees because you can learn just as much from them as they have from you!
Social media scrolling.
Have you ever started scrolling on Twitter on your work computer and then somehow found yourself scrolling on your phone as well? I sure have, and it’s a major problem.
Constantly checking personal social media accounts during the work day is a bad habit many of us struggle to break. Not only does this kill productivity and act as a major distraction in an immediate sense, it could ultimately cost you your job. Most companies track what sites you visit and if you aren’t keeping up with your work, your browser history could become the deciding factor of not getting a promotion, or worse. Your scrolling can wait until lunch!
Working through your lunch.
On the other end of the spectrum, you could have picked up a worse habit. Working through your lunch every day is not healthy for you, or for the employees around you. This will eventually lead to burnout, which can significantly impact your mental and physical health. Go grab a coffee or get some fresh air for 30 minutes. Even put it on your calendar to remind yourself if needed!
Taking advantage of flexibility.
Getting too comfortable at a company may cause you to take advantage of them, even if you don’t realize it. Showing up late once a week can suddenly lead to an every day habit, or you may find yourself putting in minimal effort when “working from home.” Management will eventually start to notice, and bad habits like this can delay advancement.
Just winging it.
Have you completely given up on organizing due to comfort? You may have lucked out on remembering everything lately, but eventually you are going to miss an important deadline. Get back in the habit of writing things down and prioritizing.
Being a ‘yes’ man.
Saying yes to everything is a hard habit to break once people assume you’ll always be there to take on their extra work. If you can’t remember the last time you turned down a new project at work, you probably have too much on your plate. Be honest and work on saying no when you need to.
Procrastinating.
We’re all guilty of this sometimes! Procrastination could have been your middle name in college, and it could have easily carried into your professional life as well. It’s clear that this is a bad life habit, but at work, it can be affecting more than just you. If your team members are relying on your part of the project to move forward with their portions, think ahead and be mindful.
Do any of these sound familiar? Acknowledge your bad work habits, and put effort into establishing better ones sooner rather than later. You may be the only person holding yourself back!