3 Tips to Building Good Professional Habits

Everyone has bad habits they wish they could eliminate from their professional lives. Procrastination, a lack of organization, poor email communication skills or an uncoachable attitude are a few examples that come to mind. We all struggle with our own battles and can always make improvements to better ourselves at work. Let’s look at a few tips that will help you kick your bad professional habits to the curb while you build better ones for the future: 

Start off small. 

Setting big goals for yourself isn’t a bad idea, but sometimes this leads to people feeling overwhelmed from the start. Begin by developing a few small habits first. Are you trying to drink less coffee? Substitute one of those cups in the morning for a tall glass of water. Are you taking too many leisurely breaks throughout the day? Use one of breaks to schedule some appointments with potential clients or respond to urgent emails and voicemails instead. You don’t need to take drastic measures on the first day of bettering yourself. Understand what your goals are and work towards them each day until your habits begin to change. 

Rebound from your setbacks. 

Developing good professional habits won’t come easy. You’ll experience some setbacks, and sometimes you might find yourself falling back into your bad habits. Just remember that we’re all human and it happens to everyone. Instead of quitting or letting this discourage you, use it as inspiration for tomorrow. Don’t let yourself slip two days in a row. Instead, get back to building good professional habits as soon as you notice a bad habit is sneaking back into your routine.  

Focus on what you’re gaining.  

It’s difficult to ignore what you’re losing as you begin to change your professional habits. For example, developing better habits for yourself could mean spending much less time on social media during the workday and more time making cold calls. Instead of dreading this task and letting yourself lose motivation, think about how those calls will help your business grow and your professional skills blossom. When you start building better habits,there’s always much more to gain than there is to lose. Think positively and focus on the great outcomes you will eventually achieve.

Start building better habits today so you can begin realizing your true potential as a professional. Start off small with realistic expectations, always bounce back from your setbacks and focus on what you’re gaining from a good habit rather than what you’re losing. Use every new day to better yourself and make incremental changes that will result in growth for you and your business.

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