If you wish to be set apart from
the crowd and get noticed for
what you do, then it is almost an
axiom that you should be
disciplined and be able to make the
most of what you currently
have.
As a worker, your most valuable asset is yourself, and how you manage yourself
will determine whether you will be in the next wave of promotions or the next
wave of firings.
Here are some of good work
habits that will set you apart:
Think positively. In business, there will always be people who only see the difficulties
involved in any undertaking. In contrast, there are those people who only see
the possibilities and potential of any given venture.
If you had to choose between the two, choose the latter attitude - it will bring
you greater results. While you should not turn a blind eye to potential problems
- indeed, you should plan to either avoid them or deal with them - you should
not hold a pessimistic view of the world either.
This will only lessen your productivity and possibly spread an unwanted attitude
among the people with whom you work with.
Plan your day ahead of time. When one is not aware of what needs to be done during
the day, the day tends to be wasted in non-productive tasks.
But if one has a plan of action to follow, it becomes easier to mobilize the
energy that is needed to make the day a success. Each evening before you go to
bed, list down the five most important things that you must accomplish the following
day.
Then, work on (and finish) the most important item before moving on to the second
one. This will ensure that you will work on the most significant of your tasks
and get a high-value return on your time.
Remember the 80/20 Principle. The 80/20 principle (also known as Pareto's rule),
was first formulated by the Italian thinker Vilfredo Pareto.
As applied to personal productivity, it postulates that 80% of your results come
from only 20% of your efforts, and that 20% of your results are the product of
80% of your effort
Basically, the 80/20 principle states that we are usually inefficient. We do
not devote as much time and energy as we should to our most important tasks.
Instead, we try to do everything ourselves, even though we may not be very competent
in some tasks. If you wish to improve your productivity at work, analyze what
it is you do that can make a dramatic impact on the growth of your company, and
propose to your superiors that you be allowed to do that one
thing.
If you chose an area wherein you can make a real contribution, your boss will
not mind your level of specialization.
Charles Williams - is a writer for http://www.lsft.org which
is an excellent place to find Motivation, Development and Self Improvment
links, For more
information go to: www.lsft.org
