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?
Always complaining
Do you always whine you’re assigned a project? Or maybe you don’t recognize that you’re making frustrated sounds while working? Do you always have a negative thing to say even about the most mundane things?
While it’s probably natural to vent out about career frustrations once in a while, being a constant complainer can put you in a bad light and even harm your career. Your co-workers could be affected by your pessimistic outlook and this could have a distressing effect on the office environment.
When you always complain, there is also a high possibility that you will not be considered for high-value tasks or promotions. Your managers or superiors will prefer to work with people who are enthusiastic and optimistic.
Making too much noise
Do you talk loudly when you’re on the phone? Do you fidget or tap your fingers when working? Or do you always raise your voice during meetings when you don’t get your way? Sometimes when you are too focused or passionate about your work, you barely notice that you are producing noise that can be distracting to other people in your place of work. This can even cause fights among colleagues if it always happens.
When you work in a communal space, always be mindful that you’re not disturbing other people with your speech or actions. If you need to make a long phone call, do it inside a conference room or in a closed office. Put on headphones when listening to music and when you find yourself fidgeting, stand up and take a quick break to calm yourself down.
Building better office habits
It can be very difficult to remove bad habits from your routine especially if you are so used to doing them every day. One way to eliminate these habits is to replace them with productive ones. Not only will this help you break a bad habit but also help you become a better office worker.
Nathan Sharpe
Nathan is a business advisor and business blogger at Biznas. He has helped many clients solve their business problems, and now imparts his advisory knowledge onto others to help them improve their businesses too.
