We’ve all accumulated various office habits over the years and they can be relatively understandable – we spend roughly 40 hours a week in the same space, surrounded by the same people. Annoying manners are inevitable.
We’re not talking about the somewhat ‘harmless’ habits such as Jenny’s knuckle cracking or Dan’s loudly chewing gum, but more those patterns that actually have the potential to cause long-term damage to overall office performance. Let’s explore 3 bad office habits that you should kick to the curb straight away.
Immediately opening new emails
Is patience even a thing when we’ve just received an email!? The notification pops across our screen and fingers start twitching and minds racing. Nosiness gets the better of us.
Sometimes we read and reply immediately, which is great if not extremely uncommon, let’s be honest. The majority of us are guilty of feeding our curiosity and then going straight back to what we were already in the middle of doing, meaning the chances of forgetting to respond later on in the day is too high for comfort.
Working through lunch
This may perhaps be the most common bad office habit in the United Kingdom, if not the entire WORLD! Online recruitment agency Totaljobs relevealed that more than half of 7,000 office workers don’t take their lunch break.
We understand that you can often feel overwhelmed by your work load and the tasks that you have to complete on a day-to-day basis, however skipping your lunch break simply isn’t the answer and will most certainly do more damage than good.
The solution is simple: take advantage of what you’re entitled to! When lunch time arrives, go for a walk or eat your food in the office canteen. Give your brain some time to breathe and you’ll find yourself much more motivated and ‘switched on’ when it’s time to get cracking again.
Ignoring problems with office décor
There are too many of us that are willing to ignore issues within our office building as we believe they don’t directly concern us. In actual fact, studies show that the practicality and appearance of a working environment plays a crucial role to an employee’s performance.
Is there a desk that wobbles with every tap on the keyboard? Are the walls a murky off-white colour that was last painted in 2002? Has the roof got a tendency to leak during heavy downpours? This needs to be fixed sharpish – if you notice something, let your manager know and employees will strive.
Get a skilled decorator in to give the walls a lick of bright paint, and if you’re needing a roof repair in Newcastle or elsewhere across the North of England, Findley Roofing and Building are perfect for the job, even dishing out free roof assessments!
Tackle all of these bad office habits and rest assured that your performance within the work place with exceed beyond all hopes and dreams. Oh, and if you are that person who chews gum loudly or cracks their knuckles… please stop.
