Working smarter, not harder, is about being smarter each day. Here are 12 bad habits you can give up to increase work productivity in 2016.
 Photo: Shutterstock |
1. Spending too much time on the web
Since most of us have internet access at work, it’s easy for us to look up a problem or question that pops into our heads. That’s why Quora user Suresh Rathinam suggests writing down the question you need answered in a notebook or notepad and then look it up online after you finish your work.
2. Multitasking
While many people believe they are great at multitasking, scientific studies have shown that only 2% of the world’s population can effectively multitask.
3. Constantly checking email
Being constantly connected to the internet also means that many people are constantly checking their email multiple times a day. With every check, you lose about 25 minutes of work. Plus, constantly checking your email makes you dumber.
4. Saving important tasks for the end of the day
Many people start their workday by doing easy tasks first and leave the harder tasks for later. This is a bad idea and an easy way to not accomplish important tasks. Research has shown that human willpower decreases throughout the day.
5. Attending too many meetings
Nothing disrupts the flow of productive work more than unnecessary meetings. With countless tools like email, instant messaging, and video chat at your fingertips, you can save face-to-face meetings for truly important issues.
 Attending too many unnecessary meetings can affect work productivity – Photo: Shutterstock |
6. Sitting all day
Nilofer Merchant, a business consultant who brought their unique ideas to a few big companies, suggested adding walking meetings as a way to generate new ideas. Rather than sitting around a coffee table, meetings can include walking and talking for about 20 to 30 miles a week.
7. Hitting the snooze button
While hitting the snooze button may give you the illusion of having a little extra time to sleep, the action does more harm than good. That’s because when you wake up, your body’s endocrine system starts producing alertness hormones that help you get ready for the day. By going back to sleep, you’re slowing down this process. Plus, 9 minutes of snoozing is not enough time for your body to recover.
8. Not prioritizing
Some people think that having a lot of goals is the best way to ensure success because if one idea doesn’t work out, they have other options. Unfortunately, this approach is not effective. Billionaire Warren Buffett helped his personal pilot realize this. Buffett asked his pilot to write down the 25 things he wanted to do most before he died, and then said instead of tackling them all in tiny little steps, to pick out the top 5 most important things, do those, and forget about the rest.
9. Overplanning
Many ambitious people try to organize their workday down to the minute to maximize work productivity. However, not everything goes according to plan, and one setback can throw off your entire day. Therefore, try planning only 4 to 5 hours of actual work each day. This way, you can also work more flexibly.
10. Not planning at all
Many people say that in order to achieve any long-term goal, you need to have a strategy in place to achieve it. Harvard professor Robert Pozen advises that you should identify your ultimate purpose, then plan a series of steps you need to take. Once you’ve reached the halfway point, you can review your work, making sure you’re headed in the right direction and making adjustments as necessary.
11. Keeping your phone next to your bed
The LED screens of smartphones, tablets, and laptops emit blue light that can damage eyesight and hinder the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep cycles. Those with low levels of melatonin are also more prone to depression.
12. Perfectionism
A bigger factor in procrastination that fear of being unable to do anything well. The philosopher and British author Alain de Botton wrote, “We only work when the fear of doing nothing at all is greater than the fear of not doing it well.” A good way to reduce procrastination and change perfectionistic thinking is to let go of unnecessary and tedious details and continue working.
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