How Do Great Employees Manage Their Work

 

How Do Great Employees  Manage Their Work

Being happy at work is, of course, quite related to how much you like your job, but there are small steps you can take to boost your mood. Maintaining the comfort of your body, sprinkling a few small pleasures throughout your day, using your time wisely – a little thought can mean a lot more happiness at work. “It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery, and as much happiness as possible.”

Your work space:

1. Check for eyestrain: put your hand to your forehead in a salute. If your eyes feel relieved, your space is too bright.

2. Get a good desk chair at work and take the time to adjust it properly.

3. Sit up straight — every time I do, I instantly feel more energetic and cheerier.

4. Indulge in a modest splurge, i.e., consider whether there are ways to spend money that would make a big difference. Could you invest in some desk accessories to help you stay organized? Could you replace an inconvenient lamp with something that works better?

5. Get a phone headset. I resisted for a long time, but it’s really much more comfortable. The phone headset is like the rolling suitcase: yes, you look a little silly, but it makes life a lot easier.

6. Don’t keep treats around. A handful of M&Ms each day might mean a weight gain of five pounds by year’s end. My husband used to work at an office that kept a kitchen fully stocked with treats.

7. Periodically, take time to deep-clean the loose papers that have piled up at work.

8. Never say “yes” on the phone; instead, say, “I’ll get back to you.” When you’re actually speaking to someone, the desire to be accommodating is very strong, and can lead you to say “yes” without enough consideration.

9. Take care of difficult calls or emails as quickly as possible. Procrastinating just makes it harder; getting them done gives a big boost of relieved energy.

10. When accepting a responsibility, imagine that it’s something that you’ll have to do next week. That way you don’t agree to a task just because it seems so far off that it doesn’t seem onerous.

11. Be honest about how you manage your time. You feel overwhelmed, but are you really working hard? How much time do you spend surfing the internet, chatting on the phone, looking for things you’ve misplaced, or doing tasks that are really someone else’s job?

12. Go outside at least once a day, and if possible, take a walk. The sunlight and activity is good for your focus, mood, and retention of information.

13. Even if you can’t go outside, manage to have a ten-minute break each hour. Studies show that the break boosts your retention level at work.

14. Don’t let yourself get too hungry.

15. Try to make a lunch date with someone outside the office at least once a week.

16. Let yourself stay ignorant of things you don’t need to know.

1. Manage Your Priorities

Getting your priorities clear is the first and most essential step toward achieving a well-balanced life. The important point here is to figure out what you want your priorities to be, not what you think they should be.

contemplate on this questions:

1. If my life could focus on one thing and one thing only, what would that be?

2. If I could add a second thing, what would that be?

3. A third?

4. A fourth?

5. A fifth?

If you answer thoughtfully and honestly, the result will be a list of your top five priorities. a typical top-five list might include some of the following:

• Children
• Spouse
• Satisfying career
• Community service
• Religion/spirituality
• Health
• Sports
• Art
• Hobbies, such as gardening
• Adventure/travel

2. Drop Unnecessary Activities

By making a concrete list of what really matters to you, you may discover you're devoting too much time to activities that aren't a priority, and you can adjust your schedule accordingly. Drop any commitments and pursuits that don't make your top-five list, because "unnecessary activities keep you away from the things that matter to you."

3. Protect Your Private Time

You would probably think twice before skipping out on work, a parent-teacher conference, or a doctor's appointment. Your private time deserves the same respect. "Carve out hours that contribute to yourself and your relationship," Guard this personal time fervently and don't let work or other distractions intrude. "Stop checking email and cell phones so often.

If work consistently interferes with your personal time, discussing some adjustments with your boss is a help. Demonstrate that you can deliver the same or better results in fewer hours. Your job performance "should never be judged in terms of hours of input, Protecting your private time often leads to "greater satisfaction in both work life and personal life, greater productivity, and more creativity."

How to Get a Great Performance Review at Work

1. Assess your recent work accomplishments. When was the last time you achieved something at work that you’re proud of? What was that project or task? If you haven’t accomplished anything recently, then be proactive about finding responsibilities that challenge you. Take a look at your job description, and figure out what’s outdated and what you’d like to add. This is a great topic for discussion during your performance review.

2. Be as positive as possible, regardless of the situation at work. Whether you’re getting bad news during your employee evaluation or dealing with difficult coworkers every day, you need to keep a cheerful, friendly, positive attitude. Negativity drains energy, makes it difficult to successfully negotiate conflict at work, and decreases your job performance. Be slow to criticize or judge your clients, employees, or couriers – whether it's to their faces or behind their backs.

3. Prioritize your “to-do” list at work — and do the most important things first. Yes, you have a million things to do and a hundred clients to please and at least one difficult boss to placate, and everybody’s screaming “Give me attention now!!” To get ahead at work and achieve your career goals, prioritize your tasks from the most to least important. This doesn’t mean you always have to do the most important tasks first; in fact, taking care of the easier tasks (eg, filing paperwork or watering plants), can be an excellent way to take a break from your more stressful job responsibilities.

4. Sharpen your networking skills — especially if you have introverted personality traits. Introverts may need to force themselves to network, but networking with peers is one of the best ways to learn valuable information, stay connected to colleagues and mentors, and improve work relationships. Plus, a characteristic of a good employee is the ability to bring in new business and get along with clients, which is easier when you know how to network.

5. Master the fundamental aspects of your job. What are the basic requirements of your job description? Learn and master those. And, become adept at the small-but-crucial parts of being a great person to work with. For instance, an overlooked but often discussed item during a performance appraisal is the ability to show up at work, meetings, and workshops on time. Another important part of the job is asking for support if you can’t meet your deadlines. Be the employee you’d be glad to hire, supervise, and promote.

6. Express your interest in more challenging work responsibilities. A performance appraisal is a great time to send feelers out for a possible job promotion. Are you hoping to one day move into a different office, or your supervisor’s position? If your evaluation is going well, take the opportunity to express your eagerness to move your career to the next level.

7. Polish your job skills. If your biggest qualification for your job is that you’ve been doing it for ten years, consider taking a refresher, such as a job training course. Adult education classes or night school can improve your job performance, which will help you achieve your career goals. Professional workshops and work retreats can also help you network with other professionals, suss out new job opportunities, and improve your self-confidence at work. This all increases the chances of a great employee evaluation!

8. Stay as healthy as possible. Are you tired, sick, or absent often? Your performance review might reflect your health — even if you’re doing a great job at work! Take care of yourself.  Manage your health. Get plenty of sleep, eat nutritious food, and exercise regularly. Deal with your mental, emotional, or spiritual issues; don’t ignore your problems. Great employees are balanced in most areas of their lives.

Now Cheer Up and Be as Great as You Can!