10 Bad Work Habits That Are Affecting You (and Possibly Your Coworkers) - Walrath Recruiting, Inc.

10 Bad Work Habits That Are Affecting You (and Possibly Your Coworkers) - Walrath Recruiting, Inc. Bad habits are everywhere, even in the workplace. Whether youre always late, gossip often or are the king/queen of complaining, bad habits linger all around us. However, they can be doing more damage than you think. Check out these 10 common bad work habits and how you can change them, below! 1. Being Late Being late once in a while is acceptable. Especially when you forewarn your boss or coworkers ahead of time. But if you are consistently showing up late to work it’s time to reassess. Not only are you already starting off your day behind schedule, but youre giving off the impression that you don’t take your job seriously. Being on time for your job is your responsibility as an employee. Start giving yourself 15-20 minutes of cushion time to get to your desk, unpack, and take your time getting started for the day. You’ll find how much more enjoyable your mornings become, too. 2. Calling in Sick Calling in sick happens. You wake up and you feel TERRIBLE, and there is no way youre going in. In these cases, you are doing yourself and your office a favor by not coming in. But calling in sick regularly is a bad habit you need to break.  When you consistently call in sick, your boss and colleagues will start to consider you as unreliable and flakey. Its also just a matter of time until you have a 1:1 meeting with your boss where this is addressed, and could even cost you your job. ONLY call in sick if you absolutely have to. Otherwise, preplan your sick days or forewarn your boss if you arent feeling well and need to take the day off. 3. Being Negative/Complaining We all have bad days where things dont seem to go right. But have you ever been around someone who is ALWAYS negative and complaining? At first, you lend an ear so they can vent, but you quickly realize its EXTREMELY draining. People want to be surrounded by others who lift them up and make their days better.  So if you feel like you could be this person, try to be conscious of HOW often you complain and try to be more positive. You’ll find how much better your days will be and how much better you will feel by doing so. 4. Not Picking Up After Yourself “Put it back where you found it”. A motto to live by ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. Whether you’re at home, at a store or at work, pick up after yourself and leave the space how you found it. Leaving a mess portrays carelessness, inconsideration, and can seem disrespectful to your coworkers. If you are the person at work who consistently leaves a mess in the break room or leaves your dishes in the sink time after time, take the extra 30 seconds to pick up after yourself. You’ll feel more organized and youll know that you are doing your part as an employee to respect your surroundings and your coworkers, too. 5. Not Being Self-Sufficient There are definitely times when we can use work help. If youre unsure about a task you have to perform or information you dont know, ask. However ask yourself first, is this something I can try to figure out or do myself? Google is a WONDERFUL tool for finding out information, and Youtube is a wonderful resource you can use to learn how to do something. So before you pass your task on to someone else, try to figure it out on your own. You will not only waste less time, but you will also waste less of your boss/co-workers time as well. 6. Constantly Interrupting An urgent matter or a relevant topic you want to share is, of course, a given. However, if you are finding yourself constantly interrupting other conversations, coworkers or managers, you are showing you believe that your time is more important than theirs. Practice patience. Waiting for someone else to speak regardless of how relevant your point may be, will gain you respect and you guessed it, patience. 7. Personal Calls/ Excess Time on Your Phone Yes, personal things come up. There’s an emergency and someone needs to get a hold of you. In these instances, take these conversations (if you can) to a private room or area. But avoid making regular personal calls while at work. You’re at work to get paid to do your job, and so are your colleagues. When you make personal calls or text all day, you lose respect in the office. In addition, youve eliminated boundaries and set the tone that youre available for personal calls during work hours, which lowers your own productivity. So try to save personal calls for lunchtime, or after work. 8. Skipping Lunch You may think you are being extremely productive and even scoring points in the office by skipping your lunch break. But what you may not realize is you decrease your productivity by skipping breaks.   You NEED that decompress time, and need to be eating to refuel your body throughout the day. That 15-30 minutes of downtime and food to give you an energy boost, affects your productivity more than you think. So the next time you are thinking of skipping your lunch or taking a few minute breaks to do a brain reboot, don’t. Your body (and your sanity) will thank you. 9. Avoiding Company Events Do you have to go to every work event that’s ever been hosted? No. BUT if you decline every single one it can give off a bad impression.  Of course, the first time you attend a work event, it can feel awkward. Especially if you are more introverted or have yet to establish friendships in the office. But company events and team building can be super beneficial for you and your office relationships. So when another event arises, RSVP: yes. You’ll be glad you did. 10. Constantly Reading Your Inbox Wanting to stay on top of your inbox is understandable. But constantly checking your emails throughout the day decreases productivity. Set boundaries and times throughout the day to do an email audit. Respond to anything urgent and let the other not-so-important emails wait till your designated time to sort through them. This will keep you better on track with your tasks for the day. If youre still needing some guidance on how to break bad habits in general, check out this Ted talk,  here!