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Attributes such as professionalism, a solid work ethic, passion, and a focus on the team above individual success are highly sought in an employee.
Good work habits are essential for making a positive impression on your boss and advancing your career, whether you work for a major multinational organization, a fledgling startup, or a small desks business. No matter how long you’ve been working in your area, the fundamentals of professionalism, interest, and effort remain the same.
Here are eight practices that can help you stand out in the eyes of upper management at your company:
Put Identifying MITs At The Top Of Your List
While keeping a to-do list may be a helpful habit for getting things done, being faced with a big list of items to complete can be overwhelming. Not to mention that trying to juggle too many different things at once might leave you feeling overwhelmed and prevent you from completing the most important chores.
Selecting only a few (between one and three) most important tasks (MITs) to do before the end of the day will keep you motivated and on track. A bonus is that just seeing that manageable list of tasks will help you get more done.
The 80/20 rule, often known as the Pareto Principle, is a good choice for narrowing down your list of priorities. It suggests that focusing on doing only 20% of the most important things well can yield 80% of the benefits. The remaining 20% can be ignored and labeled as unnecessary. As a result, you’ll have more spare time for the things that matter to you.
Schedule In Regular Breaks As Part Of Your Routine
Even the most energized individuals are unable to maintain their 100% productivity for an entire period of eight hours. Instead, it has been shown that taking short pauses in between work sessions is one of the most effective productivity practices.
Having a productive routine of taking pauses is an excellent method to give your body a chance to reenergize itself. Make the most of this time by getting out of your and engaging in some stretching exercises, trying some meditation, or even just getting something to eat. However, you should make sure that the breaks are planned and intentional. Those diversions you justifiably indulge in because you’re “taking a vacation” are not the revitalizing breaks you need.
You can follow the 52-17 rule, which involves concentrating for 52 minutes and then taking a break for 17 minutes. It’s effective for most people!
Create A List Of Distractions To Maintain Your Focus
Now that we are well into the 21st century, there is a multitude of things that might steal our attention. It just takes a second for someone to become distracted by a quick Facebook update, an Instagram comment from a buddy, or an overdue payment. People turn to a method of increasing their productivity known as distraction lists to overcome this issue.
You keep a list of distractions in your thoughts, and whenever you have a moment where you are forced to pay attention because you are afraid of missing anything, you jot it down on the list. In this manner, you can focus on the task at hand. At the same time, you can deal with distractions while you are on your break.
Divide Your Workload Into Smaller Bits
Using a ladder to scale a wall makes the ascent far less difficult. Similarly, doing a difficult assignment needs to follow a set of predetermined stages.
Procrastination is a behavior that is encouraged by difficult activities. You end up putting things off till the last minute because you believe they are impossible to do in time. Instead, the complexity of a huge project can be reduced by segmenting it into more manageable components.
Only Ask Intelligent Questions
One of the best ways to show your value at work is to ask insightful questions. In addition to demonstrating your curiosity and wanting to learn, you may advance your career by asking questions about the business, your department, and the industry.
However, it is best not to bombard them with inquiries. Managers get tired of giving the same information repeatedly, so writing down their responses can help you remember them later. When you ask many questions, it might seem that you don’t know what you’re doing or are completely incompetent. In addition, respect your supervisor’s busy schedule. The best strategy to manage inquiries is to ask the pressing ones right now and bundle the rest on a notepad or paper later.
