How often do you think about your career performance?
Some people can go years without thinking about their performance at work, and may only consider the issue if they are going through a work review. However this can seriously slow down their career progress. After all, it doesn’t matter how talented or skilled you are; it is always possible to do a better job, especially if you own your own business or are hoping for a promotion.
And don’t worry; this doesn’t need to be a difficult or time-consuming task. You only need to do a few things slightly differently!
Here are five ways to improve your work performance.
1. How To Improve Your Work Performance: Be Fully Aware Of Your Strengths And Semi-Strengths
Everyone has their own individual strengths and semi-strengths. Your strengths are the skills you have already (for instance, you may be great at Photoshop), while semi-strengths are skills that you could improve. A semi-strength could be communication; maybe you are good at communicating via email, but you struggle with in-person communication.
Normally our strengths come naturally to us, while semi-strengths require work. Once you have identified your semi-strengths you can spend time working on them, which will slowly improve your work performance over time.
2. Learn Your Limitations
It is also very important to be aware of your limitations. Everyone has limitations that they can’t change; for instance, some people are single parents who need to pick their children up from school at 3pm every day. There are also general limitations that apply to everyone; research has found that most people struggle to effectively multitask, and lots of people also struggle with procrastination.
Take some time to think about your limitations, and then consider how you can work around them. If you have children or regularly find yourself multitasking, you might need to delegate some tasks to virtual support so you can focus. This is a great way to move past your limitations, rather than letting them define your career.
3. Finish The Things You Start
Do you often find yourself starting new tasks or projects, only to abandon them later down the line? This isn’t always a bad thing, especially if the task you set was unrealistic, but if it happens frequently it could mean you’re struggling with stress or a lack of confidence. If this is the case, reward yourself next time you finish a task. This is a great way to boost your confidence and work performance (and there is nothing wrong with the occasional reward!).
4. Use The Best Tools
Various studies have found that businesses are more effective when they embrace relevant technology. In fact, one study found that companies who use Cloud technology are up to four times more productive than other companies! So have a look online to see if there are any free or cheap tools that could help you. There are lots of free design and time-management apps, and there are even apps that won’t let you scroll through social media while you are working!
5. Focus On Happiness
Finally it is important to focus on happiness. Various research has found that career performance is heavily effected by emotional and physical factors, so if you are tired or stressed your performance will suffer. So when work finishes, make sure to switch off and do something that relaxes you and makes you truly happy.
If you want more time to focus on your career goals, consider reaching out to our friendly virtual support team to see how they can help you.
