9 Terrible Habits You Need to Stop Immediately

A productivity expert at Time magazine offers “9 Terrible Habits You Need to Stop Immediately.” This is not written from a biblical point of view, but there are nevertheless some wise, adaptable things to consider in this not-to-do list. The “terrible habits” are listed below. Click here to read the explanation for each one.

Do Not Answer Calls from Unrecognized Numbers
Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night
Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time
Do Not Let People Ramble
Do Not Check Email Constantly
Do Not Over-Communicate With Low Profit, High Maintenance Customers
Do Not Work More to Fix Being Too Busy
Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7
Do Not Expect Work to Fill a Void That Non-Work Relationships and Activities Should

12 Comments

cmyktaylor

July 7, 2014 at 2:08 pm Reply

Item number 4 seems to be pretty belligerent towards the South.

Denny Burk

July 7, 2014 at 3:45 pm Reply

Ha! You might be right.

mattsvo

July 7, 2014 at 2:12 pm Reply

Cool. I actually do well at most of these… except number 5 kills me. KILLS ME.

allenmickle

July 7, 2014 at 2:20 pm Reply

10. Do not check Denny Burk’s blog constantly. 🙂

Ian Shaw

July 7, 2014 at 2:45 pm Reply

I would fail at that one…..

Ian Shaw

July 7, 2014 at 2:43 pm Reply

Praise God I’m not responsible enough/high up enough to have a work cell phone. I shouldn’t be tasked with having to work when I’m at home with my real job. Granted, I’ve taken some projects home before, but it’s insane to think your work should be able to reach you at any hour day or night and need you to take care of things. Perhaps it’s naive, but you ought to be compensated absurdly if you’re not supposed to have a life once you leave the office. Even that may not be enough to put your family on hold because your blackberry keeps ringing off the hook once you leave work.

No one should have to constantly check their work email beyond the hours of 8pm and 4am. At least some exceptions apply for certain types of work, but work has been ever intruding on people’s family lives and technology has a big part in it..

dr. james willingham

July 7, 2014 at 11:16 pm Reply

One also to be considered is that of ceasing to make a list of terrible habits to break. There is nothing more difficult to quit than a habit on which one is focused. Even Thomas Chalmers had a good idea about this, when he spoke of The Expulsive Power of A New Affection. I am sure the horses responded quite negatively to the sound of the whip’s popping and, perhaps, even the sting of the same. That ensured they would not go near the drop off on the other side of the road.