Whether they are working in the same position for three months or five years, most people strive to know how to work better. Keeping your job is integral to the way you’ve built your lifestyle — without your weekly paycheck, you would never be able to make that car payment or hit happy hour every Friday.
I’ve found there are a lot of small things you can do once a day, once a week, or even once a month to boost your status from a 9-to-5 worker to keystone employee. Here’s how you can do it.
5 Ways How to Work Better At Your Job
1. Do more
Problem: How many times a day do you get up to stand near the water cooler and catch passing conversations? Do you find yourself walking to the bathroom when you don’t actually need to go? Although sometimes we all need to clear our brain and get a stretch, you may also be avoiding doing work.
Do This Instead: Getting your work done a little earlier can open up time at the end of the day to help your boss or co-workers with last minute projects.
Solution: Cut your daily walks to the kitchen in half and aim to get all your work done a little early. This will free you up to take on a quick assignment. When your boss sees that you are proactive about taking on more work, you seem like an important player in the workday.
2. Be organized
Problem: You have a million things to do between work and home every single day. We expect our brains to hold it all neatly in place. Focusing on a spreadsheet when you keep reminding yourself to get a babysitter for this weekend inhibits you from truly focusing on work.
Do This Instead: When you write down your thoughts, due dates and obligations, your brain is free to focus on one thing at a time. This will allow you to put all your energy into the current project, thus getting better work done.
Solution: Thankfully, the wide world of technology has given us a wonderful gift called Widgets. You can download desktop items such as calendars, which will allow you to input due dates for the future. You can also keep a pad of paper next to your computer, and jot down thoughts as they come to your mind.
3. Always keep learning
Problem: If you’re stuck in the same position for a long time, your mind tricks you into believing that you’ve learned all you need to know. Yet, our evolving world, heck our evolving Internet, has something new to teach you every day.
Do This Instead: Learn something new that pertains to your everyday job. This will almost instantly be put into use. You’d be surprised to find that learning something new may spark you to challenge yourself, which can elevate your work to a new level.
Solution: Refresh yourself and your work. Frequently visit the blogosphere, and see what’s new. Subscribe to new websites and converse with others in your field.
4. Shut off the clock
Problem: When you step outside the doors of your office, you forget to turn off work and turn on life. When you hold onto stress from the day before the problems will keep compounding. This can restrict your ability to produce new, good work every day.
Do This Instead: As with anything in life, if you carry around the stress of an outside factor you can’t enjoy the simple pleasure of having a good dinner, or watching a show you DVR’d. Have some evening time to yourself and dispel your stress from the day; this will leave you fresh for a new day of work.
Solution: Shed your work clothes as soon as you get home. Put on something comfortable and slip into home life and out of your office mindset.
5. Get to know your co-workers
Problem: Without someone to vent to, work problems can inhibit your ability to create successful work. When you are frustrated with work problems, you lose the drive to always do your best.
Do this Instead: Even if you only chat during the day at work, misery loves company. In the best sense of the phrase, making work friends will ease irritations.
Solution: Get the morning stress out of your system at lunch, for example, so you’re freed up to take on the new tasks of the afternoon. Getting through the last wee hours of the day can be tough. A good employee works smart straight through until the end, and this just might be your one way ticket to 5pm.
Here you go then. Five neat tips on how to work better!
In a scary job market, we all want to keep our jobs. Prove why you are a valuable member in the office. Make simple tweaks to what you normally do every day and see the biggest difference.