Have you ever felt so annoyed at your co-worker or your boss because of their terrible habits inside the workplace? Putting up with these habits can be so distracting and frustrating that it can actually affect your attitude towards your job and your colleagues.
While habits like always being late in the mornings, watching the clock or being unprepared for meetings are quite obvious to everyone and easy to spot and avoid, there are some habits that you might not realize you’re guilty of. You might think that you are the perfect employee or co-worker, but in reality, you might unknowingly be causing annoyance in the office, too. Here are some poor workplace habits you should be mindful of.
Constantly checking your social media accounts
Many people are hooked on social media 24/7, even while at work. You might think that a quick check on your phone or sending a few Twitter DM’s during company time is harmless, but all these “couple of minutes” can actually add up.
Social media is a proven productivity killer. When you spend your time chatting on Facebook or browsing through Instagram, this can distract you from finishing your work. When your focus is lessened, the quality of your work performance may also decrease. To avoid this distraction, keep your personal phone in the drawer. If you use the same phone for business, mute the notifications of your social media accounts so you will only be notified for business calls.
Being glued to your desk the entire time
Work days in the office can be very hectic so a lot of employees end up stuck to their desks and even eating in front of their computers. While you might think this will earn you brownie points, this habit can actually be counter-productive. Employees who skip the lunch hour end up eating junk food mindlessly while being engrossed in work. This is an unhealthy habit which not only puts empty calories in your body but can also be damaging to your back and overall health.
Research has proven that micro breaks such as taking a coffee break away from your desk can actually help boost your productivity more. This will give you a chance to refresh and recharge so you can give your 100% focus when you’re back to the task at hand.]
Engaging in unethical business practices
If you’ve been in the company for many years, sometimes you don’t realize that you’re guilty of actions that do not actually adhere to proper rules of conduct. These are unethical business practices that are either unacceptable, morally wrong, or putting an unfair advantage towards colleagues, competitors or/and customers.
For example, do you keep on putting the same deceptive claim on your product ads because it was what has been used for years? Or are you not disclosing that the customer subscription form on your website has an automatic renewal that is difficult to unsubscribe from?
Just because everyone is doing it a certain way or because that is how something has always been done does not necessarily mean you have to keep doing it as well.
Leaving emails unanswered
Receiving a barrage of emails can be overwhelming and sometimes, it can take up a majority of your work day to respond to each one. This can make people put email communication in the back burner until they have the time to do so. However, unanswered emails can also affect your work or your business.
For employees, not responding to important emails can cause delays for other people in your team. You don’t really need to spend so much time composing a lengthy response. Just be direct and focus on what is needed from you. Filtering your emails to keep out the spam messages will also save you time so you don’t have to go through junk messages.
For business owners, not answering inquiries from your clients and customers can leave a bad impression. Because of technology, many customers demand prompt responses from companies. If you don’t have the time or resources to answer inquiries within 24 to 48 hours, why not look into automated business solutions that can take care of sending out instant responses and buy you additional time to respond in a more in-depth manner?