New Years resolution or not, breaking bad work habits will help you move ahead professionally in 2013. Try these tips to curb too much Internet surfing, gossiping, tardiness and any other bad work habits.
The boss and customers notice poor work habits and think negatively of you for them in most cases. Some of those top bad habits include: gossiping, showing up to work or meetings late, procrastination, being negative, mulit-tasking and micro-managing.
To curb or stop those kinds of habits, try these tips from workplace experts at MindTools.com:
- Practice self-vigilance. You can’t break a habit unless you try to do it. You have to continually be aware of what you want to stop, and what you need to do to stop it.
- Get others involved. Studies show that people who tell colleagues, friends and family about their goal are more likely to actually achieve it.
- Pick your approach. There are two ways to stop a bad habit: cold turkey or gradually. If you stop cold, make the decisions now that you’ll never “do it just once more.” If you want to do it gradually, wean off. For instance, if you need to stop internet browsing while you should be working, promise yourself five minutes every hour this week. Next week, make it five minutes every two hours, and so on.
- Create some obstacles. Make it more difficult to continue a bad habit. For instance, if you gossip at lunch with a particular group of people, schedule a different lunchtime, sit somewhere else or take a book and read it rather than socialize.
- Pick a positive behavior. Try to replace one bad habit with a good one. For example, if you want to stop criticizing people and situations, make a point to praise and be positive more.
- Reward yourself. Establish rewards and a timeline for your breaking bad habit goal – maybe a manicure when you go a month without being late to a meeting. Buy yourself an item you’ve wanted for some time after two months. Studies show most habits can be broken in two-month’s time.
