Running a business is hard work, but if you can successfully embrace effective practice, you can start to turn your bad habits into better ones.
Lazy, ineffective habits can be counter-productive and can turn simply chores into horrendous headaches. As a business owner, you should always lead from the top. If you can’t turn your bad habits around, you could be passing them onto your staff, making the entire office far less efficient than it should be.
Bad habits are learned behaviour.
As we grow, both in life and in business, we learn behaviours from those around us. In the case of your business, this could be by having previously worked for a boss that was not as on the ball as he or she could have been.
If you carry this kind of behaviour with you throughout your career, you can become less effective without even knowing where you are going wrong.
What causes bad business habits?
If you didn’t pick up your bad habits from a previous place of employment, chances are they are all your own doing. Stress is a common cause for the formation of poor working practises. Rushing to get a job completed can lead to sloppy work, and processes being skipped. This, in turn, can lead to an inconsistent quality of work or sub-quality work being delivered to your clients.
Boredom is also another major contributor when it comes to lazy or bad habits. Losing interest in the task at hand usually means that you perform the bare minimum, meaning your results will not be as first class as they should be.
How to turn your bad habits into better habits?
Re-wiring your brain to forget the bad stuff may seem like an impossible task, but most personal or professional bad habits can be broken if you take the time to break them down and start again. Here are some ways to help break bad habits for good:
- Find a substitute – you need to plan ahead and find a more productive use of your time. If you find yourself getting bored and glimpsing at the internet after lunch, find another approach to work instead. Go for a walk to allow you to re-focus, or save an enjoyable task for the long hours until between lunch time and home time.
- Cut out triggers – if a certain task or client makes your eyes roll, try a new approach. Instead of avoiding them, deal with them head on when you first get into the office. You can then continue with the rest of your day without the worry hanging over you.
- Join forces with someone else – a problem shared is a problem halved so find someone you work with who can support and help you. Maybe divide tasks up between the two of you, or physically work together so you can encourage each other.
- Plan for failure – that sounds odd, doesn’t it? But, by being realistic you won’t be too down hearted if you fall at the first hurdle. Pick yourself up and try again until you succeed.
Breaking bad habits takes time and dedication. This is the same whether you are trying to change poor working habits, or giving up a bad lifestyle choice like smoking or biting your nails.
