if your goal is to make your work life fulfilling and successful, consider looking at your work habits. These are known for their practical elements that determine one’s performance and growth. With the right habits, an employee has a chance at growing their career. Yet on the other hand, bad habits can do just the opposite. It is therefore important to take note and work on such habits to prevent them from being an obstacle in your path to career success. Diana Nawatti, a head teacher and counsellor believes that skipping breaks is one of the habits one should avoid. Giving yourself breaks in between your work either on a daily basis or within a certain period of time can simplify your work, she says. “These breaks are very crucial as they allow you to be able to get work done easily because they will keep you from experiencing burnouts that come as a result of overworking.” She says that overworking yourself is one of the most common bad working habits that most people commit, adding that waiting for the last minute to embark on working is also not a good vice. “Most of the time, this comes when one feels that they have a long time to work on either their projects or just their daily work and tend to push back what they are supposed to do. This can affect the quality of work you are supposed to deliver because there will be no time to concentrate on your work properly,” she explains. The head teacher goes on to mention that, pushing back work not only affects you as an individual, but your colleagues too especially if you are working as a team. Aminadhad Niyonshuti, an English teacher says another bad work habit to avoid is giving yourself too much free time, noting that this affects productivity in general. “Things as simple as browsing, checking your phones, or simply taking too much time during meal breaks can affect your work as this tends to make one lose focus and even lead to one not respecting their deadlines,” he says. He adds that another essential aspect when it comes to work habits is lack of proper planning. Here, he explains that by not making a plan of what is supposed to be done on either a daily or weekly basis, depending on the type of work one does, can lead to one getting overwhelmed. Emile Musabyimana, a Kigali based mentor says this disorganisation comes with great impact as it decreases your productivity as well as affecting one’s ability to reach their goals. In addition to this, he says poor communication is also something employees should work on. “With many people working from home, it’s paramount that they maintain clear communication with their colleagues for easier operation. Poor communication can as well lead to low morale and create misunderstandings among your team,” he says. Way forward According to Nawatti, employees need to avoid procrastination. Learn and practice breaking your work or project into smaller sections, which can allow you to do it in bits to prevent being overwhelmed, she says. Also, she says one should restrict the number of breaks they take in a day for proper concentration. However, she is quick to note that this shouldn’t stop someone from taking breaks anyway, as they come with advantages; the goal here is to not lose focus. Niyonshuti says there is need to plan things ahead of time in order to prevent wastage of precious time, adding that planning ahead makes work manageable. “There is need to organise work, including the environment where you are working from. Also, being neat has a positive impact on one’s behaviour in general.” Musabyimana says proactivity with communication is important as it helps keep your team informed and most importantly connected, therefore ensures smooth working. Moving forward, experts believe that one of the most important aspects when it comes to maintaining good work habits, is challenging yourself to reach your goals- this is vital as it makes an individual stand out in everything they do.
