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5 Reasons why you are Unproductive at work!
You know there is something wrong in the way you work when, even after being in the office for 9 hours, you haven’t finished much work. You see your colleagues packing up or chilling while you seem on a frenzy to finish work and go home. The result- there are many mistakes and you are stressed out! Similarly you find yourself always lagging behind your workmates, submitting your work late and looking bad in front of your Boss!! As much as you want to change, you don’t know exactly why you cannot get work done… Relax, we give you 6 reasons why you may be unproductive and ways you can improve and be a more effective worker.
You are Unproductive because-
You have a short attention span-
You start your work with enthusiasm, interest and commitment. You even overcome initial difficulties but some time later, your attention wanes, your enthusiasm runs out and you start getting bored. It goes in a downward spiral after that, you struggle to keep yourself interested, you take frequent breaks, switch to other tasks and sometimes even give up the task halfway.
Tip for you: What you need is consistency and ability to sustain your energy and enthusiasm. You need to use your short attention span to your own advantage. Break your work into manageable segments and have goals of finishing one at a time. Once you finish one segment, use the time to work on something else or take a short break. After some time come back to the next segment and work on it till you finish it. This way you will not lose interest and the work will also not suffer.
Remember to manage your time well to take enough small breaks but also get back to work fast. While you are doing one work, give it your entire attention.
You love to Multi task-
You answer the phone while you are typing, you are chatting while you are working in excel and you are handling four projects at a time. But have you noticed the quality of work that is coming out, have you seen the mistakes that are a regular feature of your work? Do you still feel proud about this ability to multitask? Research today shows that multitasking can mar your performance while causing stress. It prevents you from focusing on a single activity and overloads your brain and with so much to process, it makes mistakes and fumbles with the simplest of tasks.
Tip for you: Resist your need to being overtly effective instead pay attention to details. Work on one thing at a time and focus on it. You also need to prioritize and give importance to the tasks that are more important. While on it you must resist yourself from being distracted by mails, chats or the need to surf. This may be difficult at first but will be easy as you work on it and your work will also be done much faster and in a better way.
You are Bored most of the time
You are not stimulated by your work and feel that it is drudgery. Since it is not very appealing to you, you give only half of your best. It is not like you are not responsible or a good worker, it is just that you are not suitable for the work you are doing. Thus you end up being frustrated!
Tip for you: You need to look at what you are doing very seriously, are you doing what you love? Ask yourself if you are doing what you like… if not what is it that you do? Untill you find out, at least be loyal to your work, give your hundred percent. Being bored and working half heartedly is disrespecting your work as well as yourself. Don’t waste your time on being average, either give your best shot or find and follow your passion.
You are not a Planner
You are smart, hard working and committed, your only flaw -you are disorganized and bad at planning. Either you are working very little or working too hard. You are also bad in time management and this lands you in trouble as there are times when you forget important deadlines and meetings!
Tip for you: You simply have to learn management skills, you need to use tools like reminders and planners and organize your style of working. If you find planning to hampering your working style, divide your time between doing constructive work for half the day and creative work the rest of the day.
Set targets for yourself and don’t leave till you complete them. This way even though there is no external pressure, you will always monitor your progress and know what to do next.
You are too comfortable
“If you’re comfortable, you’re in a bad place” says a famous quote by Bob Procter. Ask yourself if you are challenging yourself? Or if are you changing, growing, learning along the way? If you feel very comfortable at present and are afraid of changing, you need exactly that- a change.
When we are in our comfort zone and all our needs are taken care of, there is no challenge, we are losing out on making the entire use of our potential. We may stick to what we are good at but never discover what we are great at. Being content is good but being complacent isn’t! So if you find yourself in a rut, rethink your choices and make a change, you may struggle or even fail but you will be at least learning and growing.
Tip for you: Challenge yourself, get a new project at work and put all your energy into. Discover arenas in your own field which you know nothing about and start learning, learning is the best way to come out of comfort zone and feel energized, be it new software of a new responsibility, it will surely improve you.
With these tips we hope, you overcome your habits and obstacles and be a productive and happy worker!
