Bad habits are just what they are – bad habits. There’s no sugar-coating them.
However, bad habits are not born equal. Making a habit of skipping your gym time might offset your fitness progress, but a habit of putting off work tasks can be detrimental to your overall career goals.
How can such traits hurt your personal and career growth? Here are the top unhealthy workplace habits that may be hurting your productivity at work.
1. Procrastination
One simple act of procrastination can have many rippling consequences. First, when you put off a task, you risk busting a deadline. A limited time constraint may cause you to rush a final product or neglect critical steps.
Failing to meet a deadline not only reflects poorly on your work, but will ultimately inconvenience others who may rely on your results.
2. Dishonesty
Dishonesty is a poor trait both in and out of the workplace. In the workplace, some common displays of dishonesty include misusing company privileges, lying on the time/worksheet, taking credit for someone else’s work and stealing property. When this occurs, management is pulled from their duties to address the situation.
It also displaces workplace dynamics, leading to a lapse in optimum productivity.
3. Gossip
Gossip in the office has now become so glorified, people use other terms to make it more appealing. Terms such as: coffee room talk, small talk, and staff room chat creates an environment that justifies gossip in the office.
Still, gossip inhibits productivity because it breaks down trust, causes conflict in the workplace, and impedes on employees’ ability to focus on tasks.
4. Poor health habits
Ensuring work is accomplished is important, but even simple tasks will suffer if you don’t take care of yourself first. Often people will begin to neglect their health and allow their workload to encroach on important personal time.
Unfortunately, the disregard for one’s health will lead to issues such as fatigue, loss of motivation, sickness, etc. This in turn will impact an employee’s effectiveness and productivity.
5. Poor sleeping habits
Finally, nothing should rob you of your sleep. Nothing!
Missing just a few hours of sleep can deeply impact your productivity during the day. You will likely find it difficult to think straight and cause mood changes, especially as the day continues. Regularly missing sleep can also cause chronic fatigue, and even leave you susceptible to sickness.