“Habits are either the best of servants or the worst of masters”.
–Nathaniel Emmons
Our habits impact our lives and careers both negatively and positively. We need to objectively assess which are impeding our ability to succeed, from those which keep us on track for realizing our goals and dreams.
If you’ve graduated from PeopleTek’s Leadership Journey™ program, you know that once you identify a habit or behavior that is not working for you, you must replace it with one that will provide you with positive results. (This keeps us from regressing back to what is familiar to us, even when we know it’s counterproductive!).
Habits allow us to save time; we don’t need to think about what we’re doing, we merely “do it”. But does this serve us well? Not always. As a result we need to consciously decide what to change to become more disciplined and focused, and not be on “automatic pilot”.
Some common unproductive habits include:
- Procrastination
- Ignoring conflict
- Consistently being late
- Interrupting instead of listening
- Multi-tasking when full focus is required
- Ignoring life / work balance
- Failure to set goals (or not making them your priority)
- Allowing phone calls and emails to divert your attention
- Not returning phone calls
- Disregarding commitments
- Not sleeping enough
So what can you do? Start replacing your non productive behaviors with those that will help you achieve the results you desire.
If you’re consistently late for meetings set an alarm on your laptop, watch, phone, etc.
Post notes in your office reminding you of what TO do.
Block out time in your daily calendar and use that time to return phone calls and emails.
Use your goals to set priorities.
Organize your day; determine what must get done and abide by your task list.
Add your personal tasks to your calendar. Ex. Gym time, calls home, family events, dinner appointments, volunteer commitments, etc
Ultimately what you need to do is identify which habits work for you, replace those that aren’t working, and commit to making positive changes that will position you for success!