WHAT'S YOUR WORK HABIT?

What’s Your Work Habit?

?When two people are in love, they only see the best in each other even as both do their best to always show their best side. So they eventually marry each other and through the years they become so comfortable with on another to the point that they show their true colors which takes the form of bad habits. There’s a pretty lengthy list and here is some:

“My husband always leaves the toilet seat up. Worse, he always leaves some of his urine in the seat.”

“My wife cuts her nails in public. It’s so embarrassing.”

“My husband grits his teeth while sleeping. I am so annoyed.”?

Hopefully none of these irritants find their way to your work but the fact is, everyone has some weaknesses in their work behavior that they need to work on, and they often extend beyond annoyances (such as endless texting?while at work) and if not corrected, become problems for your career. In fact, An effective way to learn more about a person at work?you is by closely?observing their work habits. There are good habits that if appreciated and encouraged, will contribute?to better productivity,?teamwork?as well as foster better work relationships . Conversely, bad habits at work can be equally destructive, distruptive and demoralizing.?In a survey conducted by CNN and Careerbuilder.com, here are some of the top work habits that need to be broken. I’ve also included some of my own based on my own informal interviews with HR practitioners and executives:

Procrastination

A lot of people work best under pressure, or at least they say so. With everyone having a different personality, you can't say a strict schedule works best for all employees. Putting tasks off until the last minute, however, invites plenty of problems, even if you think the final result will be glorious.

When you leave yourself no wiggle room to complete a task, you run the risk of encountering an unexpected obstacle that makes you miss the deadline. Even if the situation's out of your hands, everyone will be left wondering why you didn't plan better and account for last-minute emergencies.

Always running late

This isn't the same as abusing leeway; this is a matter of trust. If you're late to work, to meetings and with projects, your boss and colleagues will associate that trait with you. When it's time for a promotion or to deal with an important client, everyone will think twice before giving you the opportunity. Who wants to trust the person who can't manage his or her time?

Badmouthing your Company

With blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and a host of other sites, you have plenty of opportunity to vent your frustration with life. If you're going to complain about how dumb your boss is and how much you hate your job, keep those rants private.

The Internet is public domain and comments have a way of finding their way back to all the wrong people. If you wouldn't stand outside your boss's office and tell a co-worker how ready you are to quit, don't express the same thoughts in an open forum.

Politicking

Office politics are often unavoidable, and sometimes having a grasp on what's going on can benefit you, but you shouldn't spend more time masterminding office warfare than you do working.

Getting caught in the crosshairs of a workplace controversy can be out of your control, but if you're the one instigating the drama, you're earning a bad reputation. You're the person who starts trouble and whom no one trusts. That's the kind of notoriety that follows you from one workplace to another.

Too Frequent and Extended Coffee Breaks

If you’d like to know how the company is doing or what people think of each other, hang-out in your office pantry. You’d get more information, authenticity and ?the latest “chismis” just by spending a few minutes there. The problem is this - ?the jokes, intrigues and gossip is just too juicy and too interesting that a 15-minute coffee break is never enough. So if unchecked, workers often extend their coffee breaks, or go in and out in the guise of getting a drink or going to the comfort room.?Worse, damaging rumours and character assassinations usually emanate from pantry talk.