We work more than we sleep or any other activities. Forming effective work habits is crucial to our lives and productivity at work. Whether you are looking to improve your work or career advancement, you need to start by building effective habits at your work place.

1. 16 Effective Habits at Work
IMPROVING YOUR LIFE IS FUN
BY: CHHAYLEANG NGUON

2. Introduction
 What you do today will not matter much, but if you keep doing it again and again,
it will impact your life.
 Example: If you eat junk food today, it won’t affect your health so much; however, if you
have junk food everyday, you will subsequently suffer many kinds of sickness.

3. Introduction
 Commit to establishing new habits in just one area of your life, concentrating on
one segment of the book until you feel you have made adequate progress.
 Choose one habit at a time until you’ve got that one habit down, and then add a
new habit to your repertoire after that.
 Choose your favorite habits out of the 77 habits suggested, and tackle them one
by one until you’ve established all your favorite new habits.

4. Why we need good habit at work?
 We work more than we sleep or do any other activities.
 If you have a good day at work, you are more likely to come home refreshed and
ready to dive into something engaging.

5. Habit #1: Arrive 15 minutes before
necessary
 Get to work before you need to, or else you will face the following situations:
 Anxiety when dealing with your work or co-workers
 Driving at high speed to work, which is dangerous
 Cannot greet your co-workers properly
 Lack of planning time since you need to get into work immediately
 Causing unnecessary stress

6. Habit #2: Choose one way to excel each
day
 It is easy to get sidetracked of your goals.
 It’s easy to get discouraged and lose enthusiasm
 Choose to do something that will improve your job on a daily basis; link what you
are currently doing to something bigger.
 Example: You don’t like the current project you are working on. Yet, you want to own a
business. To get you own clients, you need to have great portfolios. So, commit to
getting the project done for your future.
 Start your day with a habit of getting into something that you can excel in, and
you will build something impressive overtime.

7. Habit #3: Race against yourself
 It is easy to get distracted: text messages, notifications, emails etc.
 You can beat the distraction demons by setting small goals for yourself and then
racing against the clock to beat your estimated timeframe.
 Set goals and break them down into smaller pieces and then try to get each goal
done within a certain timeframe.
 Allot 30 minutes and stay focus on the work during that time.

8. Habit #4: Incorporate stress management
into your workday
 Stress inhibits our ability to think clearly, negotiate well and get along with
coworkers.
 One highly effective way to manage stress is to breathe deeply for five minutes.
 Set a timer for five minutes and refuse to think about anything else besides how
marvelous it feels to breathe in and out.

9. Habit #5: Network
 A recent CNN report tells us that only 15–20 percent of available jobs are
advertised. That means somewhere between 80–85 percent of jobs are being filled
by personal relationships.
 Knowing the right people will make your life better.
 You are an average of 5 people you mostly hangout with.
 Always bring your name cards along and hand them out to people you don’t
know.

10. Habit #6: Play with your strengths
 We all have strengths and weaknesses.
 Don’t try to do everything by yourself.
 If you make a habit of using your strengths but delegating your weaknesses to
someone else, you will excel in your career.

11. Habit #7: Take a real lunch break
 Don’t eat at your desk.
 Get out of work and have a proper lunch. This will improve your productivity and
prevent job burnout.
 Get to a nearby restaurant if you it is convenient for you.

12. Habit #8: Always look for intrinsic rewards
 Each day you need to find one thing that makes you feel good about doing your
job.
 Example: You get to learn new computer skills or you get to make more money.
 Look for rewards that truly make you proud of yourself. Then write down your one
accomplishment each day. Believe it or not, this will help you avoid burnout at
your job.

13. Habit #9: Add a “wake up” routine in the
afternoon
 Have peppermint tea or coffee to keep yourself awake.
 Stand up and stretch your body every now and then.

14. Habit #10: Sandbag when estimating
 It’s tempting to say you can get a job done quickly, but it’s better to prepare for
obstacles. People who routinely come in under budget and on time are going to
be trusted and respected more than the people who give optimistic projections
and then fall short.
 Make it a habit to ask for more time, money and resources than you think you will
need.

15. Habit #11: Make yourself known
 Make it a habit to speak up at least once in every meeting.
 Let your coworkers know how valuable you are to the team.
 Don’t always keep silent at work.

16. Habit #12: Document everything
important
 While you’d like to believe your manager, coworkers and clients will always remember
agreements and negotiations the same way you remember them, it’s very likely you
will encounter disagreements at one point or another.
 To keep communication clear and to prevent misunderstandings, you will want to
make a habit of documenting the following:
 Project specifications and deadlines
 Any discussion of pay rates, raises or bonuses
 Expectations expressed in meetings
 Customer or client issues
 Problems with coworkers
 Get everything in writing

17. Habit #13: Avoid gossiping
 It’s best to assume that you will have to work with this person again someday, and
the next time around. So, don’t talk badly or vaguely about that person.
 Treat coworkers with respect and keep personal grudges out of the work arena
altogether.

18. Habit #14: Find a way to laugh
 One of the best ways to diffuse stress and restore morale is through laughter.
 Crake a joke when appropriate.
 Laughter will bring your coworkers together and improve your productivity.

19. Habit #15: Ask for what you need
 Talk to management about complaints, explaining exactly what you need and why
you need it.
 Don’t keep anything hidden. Share them out and you will feel good about it.

20. Habit #16: Leverage the 80/20 rule
 We’re not designed to work at full efficiency at all times. We have productive
times of day and unproductive times, productive environments and unproductive
environments.
 Make sure you are working on the most important projects during your most
productive space of each day.

21. Thank you for your attention!