Identifying, Removing & Replacing Poor Work Habits. The Fourth Step In Your Path To Success!

Ardi Hassirchian             Identifying, Removing & Replacing Poor Work Habits
April 5th 2015                   The Fourth Step In Your Path To Success!

We all have our own bad habits; this can range from biting on your fingernails, to procrastinating, to rushing to work every day and arriving with no time to spare. Simply put, having bad work habits can be the downfall of your path to success. Yeah, sure, having only one bad habit probably won't have a huge effect on your life. However, once they start to accumulate, you may find yourself feeling isolated in your workplace, on the hot seat with your boss or at an unwanted place in your prerrsonal life. When it comes to bad work habits, taking immediate action is critical. The longer you wait, the worse your habits become. In order to first change your bad work habits, you must identify them. However, the most dangerous part about having bad work habits is that you may not even realize that you have them in the first place. For example, coming home and spending 2 hours a day procrastinating on  your laptop until you start your homework may have become a part of your daily routine; it no longer seems out of the ordinary. So I would recommend spending at least a week tracking everything that you do. If you went for a smoke break, write it down. If you watched television for half an hour, write it down. At the end of that week be prepared to make changes. Look at your daily routine and acknowledge what habits have been slowing you down with your goals. For example, if you noticed that you crave a cigarette every half an hour, write that down and be prepared to make adjustments. Once you have identified your bad habits, it is time to start replacing them. When you are trying to get rid of a bad habit, it is important to take your time; it is not something that you want to rush. Back to our previous example, if you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, just completely quitting is going to be extraordinarily difficult both mentally, and physically. What I recommend doing is smoking one less cigarette per day. This way, your withdrawals will not be as dreadful and your body may not even notice what you're doing. Before you know it, your body will have adapted and no longer craves cigarettes. Your bad habit is gone! However, one of the biggest challenges that come with removing a bad habit is being able to manage it. The number one reason for developing a bad habit in the first place is stress. So once you go back to work and you have gotten rid of your bad habits, you may find yourself feeling stressed out once again. Before you would just go out and have a smoke, but now that you quit, what do you do? You don't want to re-develop your bad habit, so you must replace it with a different one or even better, try to alleviate the source of the stress that is resulting in your bad habits. For example, you are feeling stressed out and want to go for a smoke break. Instead, try some breathing exercises that will calm you down and manage your stress rather than re-developing your old habits. Furthermore, once you can identify, remove and replace your bad habits, you will soon find that your work efficiency rate is flying through the roof and you have way better personal success in many areas of life! You will be surprised with how much better you feel throughout the day, feel amazing about yourself and no longer be on the hot seat with your boss. That new promotion is sounding more and more likely to happen!


Uh-Oh!

 



Below I have listed the link to a fun video regarding changing your bad behaviours! Check it out.
Made by: Owen Fitzpatrick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CojSlsMwDOg


Also, make sure to check out these 4 awesome websites/blogs regarding changing your bad habits!
1) http://jamesclear.com/how-to-break-a-bad-habit
Written by: James Clear
2) http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/548
Written by: Dr. Arthur B Markman
3) http://www.oprah.com/health/How-to-Change-Your-Bad-Habits
Written by: Rebecca Skloot
4) http://psychcentral.com/lib/7-steps-to-changing-a-bad-habit/00020119
Written by: Marie Hartwell Walker

I included an awesome quote for you to check out regarding the importance of changing bad habits!
''Becoming succesful is not a destination, but a journey'' - Unknown

Resources for my original photos:
1) Late Again? 2013. How to Break a Bad Habit. By Greg Hopkin. Web. 8 Feb. 2015.
2) Change Your Bad Habits. 2014. 3 Proven Ways to Change a Bad Habit. By Ethan Winer. Web. 8 Feb. 2015.
3) Bad Workplace Habits. 2014. The 4 Powerful Ways to Change a Bad Habit. By Sarah Kim. Web. 8 Feb. 2015.