Work habits are the behavioral tendencies that we apply to achieve peak performance in our workplaces or businesses. These habits set a strong foundation for efficiency, regular attendance, compliance, trust, effective communication, time management, punctuality, and collaboration. Cultivating and exhibiting good work habits is essential to stand out and become successful in your field. In this article, we will discuss seven exceptional work habits that can improve your productivity and two bonus tips that can enhance your priority-setting abilities.

1. Prioritize Your MITYour
The concept behind prioritizing your Most Important Tasks (MIT) is that some activities are more crucial than others. It is not enough to have a to-do list; you need to establish your Most Important Tasks in order to channel your energy towards achieving them with renewed focus. Spend some minutes picking one to three MITs, which are tasks that must be completed before the day ends no matter what. This work habit is about discerning the most important tasks and delegating the less important ones.

2. Limit Social Media Use
With emails, notifications from social media platforms, and several minor to-dos, you can easily get distracted while trying to engage in productive work. Limiting social media usage is a good work habit that can impact how you manage your time and what you make out of it. Turn off all social media notifications and use social media only after work for less than 30 minutes per day. By doing so, you can focus on what’s important and maintain your productivity.

3. Be Open to Feedback
When you receive feedback from your superordinate, whether positive or negative, don’t take it personally. The goal of feedback is to make you more productive. Understand the significance of both public and private feedback on your reputation and work, and spend more time understanding your client’s requirements. Respond quickly to requests for revisions and ensure that all feedback helps you improve on the job.

4. Exercise Daily
Your physical disposition affects your personal productivity. Several studies have pointed out that physical exercise is essential to becoming healthier, happier, and more productive. Exercise can help you achieve quality sleep, optimized memory, mental alertness, and better concentration. Incorporating exercise into your daily routine can boost your financial life as well. Those who exercise daily earn about nine percent on average than those who live a sedentary life.

5. Make Healthy Choices
Making healthy choices is a crucial work habit that can impact your mind and body and your professional success. Write down daily activities that add value to your health and assess your lifestyle. List those habits that are hazardous to your health. Select one of the bad work habits and substitute it with a good one. Then evaluate your achievement every weekend. If you are not making progress, find out what’s the issue and adjust.

6. Engage in Reflective Practice
Reflection is a habit of reflecting on your ideas, thoughts, and actions in a bid to engage in a life-long learning process. This practice helps you in cultivating vital skills and evaluating your effectiveness instead of going with the flow. It enables you to find out the motives behind your actions and curate a better approach in doing them subsequently. Reflective practice is a work habit that can help you achieve happiness in your personal and professional life.

7. Find Time to Recharge
Highly effective leaders find time to recharge. This means they get sufficient sleep each night. They also exercise and eat healthily. Your energy carries the same level of importance as your time. It does not make sense having enough time with no energy to remain productive. If you are finding it difficult to concentrate on the job, evaluate your work habits. Prioritize sleep, eat healthily, and exercise regularly to help boost your energy levels.

Bonus Tip 1: Employ the Eisenhower Matrix to Track Long-Term Priorities
Sometimes, while trying to be productive, you focus on the short-term. However, the Eisenhower Matrix assists you in determining the tasks you should work on and those you should ignore. This matrix was popularized in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People written by Stephen Covey. Use it to make informed decisions and efficiently spend your time pursuing long-term priorities.

Bonus Tip 2: Schedule ‘Focused Work Blocks’ for Improved Efficiency
Applying a focused work block method ensures that you work on one task without interruption for a predetermined period. Start with small increments, like 20 to 25 minutes, and gradually extend the time as you get comfortable with the approach. Scheduling focused work blocks helps reduce procrastination, and you get to accomplish more and improve productivity.

In conclusion, cultivating exceptional work habits can help you achieve peak performance in your business or workplace. Prioritize your most important tasks, limit social media use, be open to feedback, exercise daily, make healthy choices, engage in reflective practice, and find time to recharge. Additionally, employ the Eisenhower Matrix to track long-term priorities and schedule focused work blocks for improved efficiency. With these work habits, you can become more productive, efficient, and successful in your career.