This guide outlines which things you think are productive habits are actually harming your efficiency.
Workplace efficiency is a top priority for any leader. Properly motivating employees is an important consideration but there’s more to it than that. Small errors can add up to something much bigger and bring everything grinding to a halt. These things go unnoticed most of the time and in a lot of cases, they’re things that you think are actually productive habits — but they’re not.
Non productive habits you need to ditch
Properly managing your own time and maintaining the office is just as important as keeping your employees motivated. By cutting out these non productive habits, you can increase the efficiency of your office tenfold.
Answering emails at home
Everybody thinks that carrying on with your emails in the evening counts among the productive habits that will make you more effective because you’re extending your hours. But in reality, the opposite is true. While you might be getting some more work done in the evenings, it will make you less productive the following day.
Without proper downtime, you won’t have time to recharge your batteries and if you go to work the next day feeling like you haven’t had a break, you’ll be less likely to work at full capacity. Staying up answering emails late into the evening will also affect your sleep patterns, making it harder to be productive in the morning. This tiredness will carry over every day and you’ll always be working at half speed.
Checking emails when you get in
Another common email mistake that almost everybody makes is checking them as soon as you get in. Most people don’t even think about it, it’s just their natural reaction as soon as they load up their computer. You think that it is one of the productive habits that makes things run smoother because you’re dealing with problems straight away.
However, checking emails immediately will stress you out before you’ve even started working, putting you on the back foot from the beginning. If you wait an hour or two before checking your emails, you can deal with any more pressing matters with a clear head before overloading yourself with extra work.
Not updating equipment
You can motivate your employees all you want but if they’re trying to get work done on an out of date, slow computer, it makes no difference how hard they’re working. If they need to print documents and their nearest printer is broken, they’ll have to waste time crossing the office every time they need to use it.
Lots of bosses make the mistake of thinking that they are saving money by not updating or fixing equipment, therefore making the office more productive. But that’s not the case. If you have a problem with equipment, get in touch with somebody to fix it right away. Otherwise you risk slowing everything down. If your computer systems are out of date, it’s worth investing a bit of money in upgrading them so your employees can work to the best of their ability without having to wait ages for things to load up.
Workplace gossip
Developing a good working relationship is one of the productive habits that is important for team productivity but you can take it too far the other way. If you gossip about other people in the office when you’re talking to employees, it will make you feel generally negative about the work environment.
This negative feeling will spill over into all of your work and make you far less productive. It’s good to blow off a bit of steam with your co-workers sometimes, but don’t spend all day chatting and gossiping otherwise you’ll be wasting time and making yourself less productive.
Staying at your desk all day
It’s a common misconception that the longer you stay at your desk, the more work you’ll get done. Obviously, if you’re wandering around all day, you won’t get much done, but staying glued to your seat for the entire work day is just as bad. Sitting at a desk is not one of the productive habits and not conducive to creativity or inspiration.
The average person also struggles to concentrate for more than twenty minutes on the same thing. A change of pace can keep your mind fresh and maintain concentration. If you’re staring at your screen constantly all day, you’ll get twenty minutes of efficient work and then the rest of the day you won’t be getting any quality work done. The best thing to do is to get up and have a walk around every so often, when you return to your desk you’ll find it much easier to get on with your work.
Working through lunch
Working through lunch is another way that people try to improve productivity because they think they’re getting an extra hour of work in. However, if you don’t eat properly, you’ll be far less productive, and not taking a bit of time out breaks concentration. It’s also a good time to speak to coworkers about non work related matters — one of the productive habits which helps build better relationships.
Conclusion of non productive habits
These are all things that you think are helping you to get more work done, but in reality, you’re just slowing yourself down. Cut out non productive habits and replace them with genuinely productive habits and you’ll see productivity shoot up in no time.
Habits of unproductive people
Some bad habits can make our routines unproductive and impair performance at work. Here are some of them and how to find ways to increase your productivity:
Habit 1: Don’t plan
The main mistake of those who can not keep the agenda (and personal life) up to date is not to plan – that is, to do everything last minute, not predicting possible eventualities. Unforeseen events happen all the time and it is important that we are prepared to deal with them. Planning helps you think of a plan B or C for each situation.
How to change? Don’t just get to the next day’s planning. At the very least, plan the next three days, not completely batch your schedule: always leave a “loophole”. If you work 8 hours a day, for example, commit only 4 or 5 hours of appointments, and leave free time for what was not foreseen.
Habit 2: Setting wrong priorities for tasks
If you do not make a critical assessment of the time itself, all activities are seen as a priority. Thus, unnecessary schedules are made that occupy much of the day.
How to change? Take a critical stance on each task and differentiate what is important (i.e., what is time-related and brings results) from what is urgent (must be done immediately).
Habit 3: Underestimating Productivity Apps
Some applications for task and activity management are very useful! Despite this, those who experience them usually give up the program after some time of use. Remember: it takes a few weeks to make using these tools a habit.
How to change? Secure a commitment to yourself and determine which apps can help you in your day-to-day life. To test whether the application is functional for you, try the management method it offers and see if it produces results in your routine.
Habit 4: Check the email all the time
Checking emails at all times creates a waste of time – especially if we consider that not everything in your inbox requires immediate response.
How to change? Set set moments to see what they’ve sent you and set priorities for what to answer first.
Habit 5: Overuse social networks
Social networks are widely used during work. Over-checking messages and notifications hinders work and interferes with concentration, which will only summarize after several minutes.
How to change? Just like email, set fixed times to check your social networks. Making it a habit, the temptation to check messages all the time diminishes.
Habit 6: Don’t delegate tasks
There are several reasons that lead professionals not to delegate tasks: fear of losing their position, fear of not having qualified people, etc. The consequence, however, is always the same: too many tasks and little time to fulfill them.
How to change? Be aware that advancing the career is more than having many responsibilities for you: it is essential to know how to manage tasks and teams so that the work has good quality and is delivered on time.
Habit 7: Hold meetings too often
Spending a few days of the week with the doors closed in a meeting is not synonymous with productivity. Mainly because most meetings are considered unnecessary, very long and without defined objectives.
How to change? Avoid holding meetings for everything. If they are really essential, make sure that you have made the necessary planning: schedule, agenda, objectives, participants, etc. Remember that the ideal duration for meetings is approximately 30 minutes.
Habit 8: Being disorganized
Productivity is directly related to the organization: the work desk, the house, the objects, the personal finances. Therefore, before thinking about productivity you need to think about organization.
How to change? Make the organization a habit. Create specific spaces for each type of object that needs to be saved (documents, accounts, magazines, etc.) and keep them in their proper places – this also applies to electronic files stored in workbooks on the computer. That way, there will almost never be a need to do “big storage”.
Habit 9: Devote little time to yourself
Unproductive people are the ones who are less dedicated to personal life, because they are always busy doing the numerous activities of their busy schedule. In an attempt to keep the stifling routine of work up to hand, these people “sabotage” leisure time. Working excessively produces poor results that are opposed to productivity.
How to change? Open gaps in your schedule to devote time to yourself – whether you take more breaks during the day or to practice a hobby. In this way, it is possible to achieve a balance between work and life.
