Most people don’t forge positive, deliberate work habits until they’re already established in their careers, and this is something we want to change. While attempting to make this kind of positive change is great at any point in your life, it’s definitely a lot easier to start implementing good work habits from the get-go!
So, if you haven’t yet embarked on your career journey (or if you’ve just joined the workforce), you’re at the perfect point in your career to lay out some ground rules and develop good work habits. Trust us, it’s worth it. They’ll serve you for the rest of your career!
What are Work Habits
Work habits are repetitive actions and activities that you build over time. Once you’ve developed a habit, it will feel like second nature (A.K.A not doing the action will feel like more effort than actually doing it)! For instance, some people check emails when they first get to work or make a coffee as soon as they enter the office. Both actions can be considered work habits.
The reason it’s so important to forge productive, good work habits is that it’s extremely easy to let bad habits impact your performance. Not all work habits add value, and we only want to cultivate the ones that do!
Are Your Work Habits Healthy or Harmful
The first step to developing good work habits is to identify the habits you already have and figure out if they’re helping or harming your performance. It’s easy to turn a blind eye to bad work habits, but if you want to excel in your field, this isn’t the route to take. Rather, you want to be super self-aware!
To help you figure out how your work habits rank, check out our list of Work Habit Green Flags and Work Habit Red Flags. If you relate more strongly to the former, you’re on the right track, but if you find yourself identifying with the latter, it might be time to readjust.
Work Habit ‘Green Flags’
If you’re already implementing some of these good work habits, you’re off to a great start! All you need to do is keep up the good work!
- You’re always on time for work (or even better, you show up 5-10 minutes early to get a jumpstart on the day.
- You plan ahead to ensure you’re meeting deadlines.
- You set boundaries to avoid burnout and prevent yourself from becoming overwhelmed.
- You communicate effectively with your team by actively participating in meetings, staying on top of emails and flagging any issues.
- You shut down procrastination before it takes over your day (and yes, this includes limiting your yapping time, sorry)!
Work Habit ‘Red Flags’
If your day-to-day is filled with some of these bad work habits, it’s time to do some serious self-reflection and kick these actions to the curb!
- You skip your lunch breaks to continue working (and find yourself staying at the office long after everyone else has left).
- You tend to dwell on the negatives instead of focusing on the positives. Remember, negativity is contagious in the workplace.
- Your tendency to multitask results in lower-quality work and unfinished tasks.
- You jump at the opportunity to participate in nasty office gossip sessions.
- You always say yes to new responsibilities, even when you barely have time to finish your existing ones!
How Do Habits Actually Work?
According to James Clear in his book Atomic Habits, there are four stages to what he calls ‘the habit loop.’
#1 Cue
A cue is a prompt that tells us we need to do something, and in this context, it’s the thing that tells us we need to commence the action we want to turn into a habit. When your brain picks up on a cue, this is when the second stage (otherwise known as the ‘Craving’ begins.
#2 Craving
The Craving stage is the part of the habit loop where you feel most compelled to complete the action/potential habit. It feels like an itch you have to scratch (or at least, it will when you’ve completed the habit loop enough times)!
#3 Response
The third stage of the habit loop is probably the most simple: it’s the action/ habit that can take the form of either a thought or an action. The more that your desired response is acted upon, the more natural it will feel.
#4 Reward
This is the fun part: the reward stage consists of the good feelings you get from completing the action (and it’s also the thing that encourages you to continue forging the habit). In a work habit context, the reward is usually related to satisfaction, pride, or the promise of an easier day.
You might be wondering how these stages can be identified and applied in a work environment, but the answer is actually pretty simple! Take this for an example:
Habit: Replying to Emails First Thing in the Morning
You enter the office on Monday, sit down at your desk, and open your computer. You see the little red notification badge on your work emails that tells you there are a few new messages. Seeing this notification is your ‘Cue’ to commence the email-checking process. Moreover, the ‘Craving’ is the feeling you get when you want to see that red notification badge disappear after your inbox has been cleared (we all know how good that feels). After these first two stages have occurred, you go through the process of clearing out your inbox, and thus, initiate the ‘Response’ stage. Finally, the ‘Reward’ stage occurs when you feel that sense of satisfaction from accomplishing something; in this case, clearing your emails!
How Do You Develop Good Work Habits
The key to developing good work habits is actually committing to making a change! If you’ve made it this far through the article, you’re already on the right track. All you need to do now is to put the theory into practice!
However, there are a few key strategies that will help you set (and stick to) your newly formed habits. After all, good practices don’t become habits overnight; they require repetition and dedication! Our top tips for locking in a good work habit are:
- Starting with small, realistic work habits.
- Being consistent.
- Rewarding yourself for completing the desired action.
How To Fix Bad Work Habits
Establishing good work habits is one thing, but abandoning bad work habits is a whole other beast. To let go of the actions that don’t empower you, try out some of these top tips:
- Identify the work habits that don’t serve you.
- Identify your motivation to change and let that spur you on.
- Think of some alternative actions to replace the habits you’re trying to kick.
- Set reminders in your phone to make sure you don’t forget.
Remember, don’t get discouraged! Habit researcher Phillipa Lally poses that it takes 18 to 254 days to form a new habit, so don’t feel discouraged if it feels hard for a while!
10 Productive Work Habits for a Successful Career
Now that you have all the strategies you need to forge new, productive work habits, it’s time to pick which actions you want to start practising. If you don’t quite know where to start, see if you feel inspired by any of these:
- Schedule regular ‘Me-Time’ to balance your work and personal lives.
- Keep a planner and fill it with a daily to-do list.
- Start your day by completing a productive task (like setting up a to-do list or checking your emails.
- Proofread all documents that you write rather than firing them straight out.
- Dedicate a little time every day to upskilling.
- Change the subject if someone tries to initiate workplace gossip.
- Plan ahead and stay on top of deadlines.
- Keep a tidy workspace.
- Always ask for help when you need it.
- Schedule catch ups with your boss to go over areas for improvement.
Our Final Tip: Don’t Give Up!
Changes don’t happen overnight, and being your best self at work is an ongoing commitment! However, we have one final tip (that could totally be turned into a new work habit); dedicate a little time to checking out our career advice blogs and launch your career the right way!
