While people go to work with the best intentions, not everyone has the productive day they imagined. You have a life outside of work, and with it come many reasons you may feel unsuccessful at your job.
Fortunately, there is so much you can do to have a more fruitful workday. In this article, you will learn about ten things that can help you make your career the best every day and make your best intentions a reality.
1. Practicing Regular Exercise
Staying in shape means more than looking good in front of the mirror. Exercise is about managing your mental and physical well-being and enabling you to put your best foot forward in every aspect of your life. A long day at work can hurt your body and mind and pile onto the stress you may already carry in your personal life.
By relieving stress through exercise, you will become better at handling tough days at work. Whether through calming yoga or an intense weightlifting session, you can use any form of physical training.
2. Getting Proper Sleep
Your career takes up a large portion of your energy and can leave you feeling tired. Being well-rested is essential to recovering from the hard work you put in at work and re-fueling for the days ahead. Through proper sleep, you will be fully energized for anything that comes your way at work.
Adequate rest is not only about the number of hours you sleep, but also about the nighttime routine
you follow before going to bed. A solid routine includes eating dinner a few hours before sleeping, putting down any screens 30 minutes before bed and creating a relaxing sleep environment.
3. Eating a Healthy Breakfast and Lunch
Food is fuel, and not all fuel is equal in its ability to power your day. Eating nutritious meals before and during work can help you feel good and increase your job performance. Sticking to a diet that suits your body can help reduce fatigue, increase mental alertness and alleviate physical symptoms of stress — all of which can lead to a better workday.
You either have the option of packing your breakfast and lunch or purchasing food while at work. In both scenarios, you have plenty of healthy choices available to you. Before your workout, consider drinking a protein shake such as power life that is a delicious but healthy option to get you energized for exercise.
4. Creating a To-Do List
The majority of people have heard of the impact that an organized to-do list can have on your career, but not everyone uses a to-do list. If you know what you have to do on any given day at work ahead of time, you will feel less stressed. By focusing on tasks themselves and not exerting yourself planning your day, time will move quicker as you delve deeper into your work.
It is helpful to maintain your to-do list on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Doing so will enable you to keep track of your short- and long-term goals and persevere during a tough day.
5. Using your Commute to Get in the Zone
The common perception is that your workday does not begin until you get to work. While this is technically true, using the time before you arrive to work can help you mentally prepare for the day. Whether you spend 5 minutes or 50 minutes commuting to your job, you can spend those minutes shifting your mental gears into work mode.
You could shift into work mode by enjoying some motivating music, engaging your brain with a podcast or simply thinking positive thoughts about the day ahead.
6. Connecting your Life and Work
While separating your life from your career can decrease the amount of stress you take home, it will make your job more difficult in the long run.
The purpose of the career you have built is to live a better life. It does not matter what better means to you, but what does matter is to remind yourself why you work so hard. Building a bridge between your personal and professional worlds will add meaning to your career and allow you to make it through a challenging workday.
7. Completing the Difficult Work First
It is easy to procrastinate on the tasks that are the most difficult. A common strategy that people follow at work is finishing a large number of smaller projects to feel a sense of accomplishment. However, this feeling is short-lived.
To make real progress in your career, you must complete the tougher tasks. The best way to make sure they get done is by doing them first. If you complete your most challenging projects as soon as you get to work, you will feel less stressed throughout the day.
8. Building Social Bonds at Work
Most things are easier when done in teams. Being in a workplace does not mean you cannot make friends. Socializing at work will help you enjoy being in the office more and will also allow you to share some of your stress with your colleagues.
If you and your colleagues develop a team-based approach to work, you will be able to work on more complicated projects and lean on each other for support.
9. Putting Aside Time to Enjoy Life
While enjoying life means something different for everyone, it is essential to long-term happiness. As mentioned before, you work hard to create a better experience for you and your loved ones. It is necessary to take the time to do things you enjoy so you can remind yourself why you work hard.
The joy you experience doing the things you love with the people you love will re-energize you. By prioritizing happiness, you will be healthier both mentally and physically. You will be able to make it through tough days at work because you will be in the best emotional and physical shape.
10. Taking Frequent Breaks
You may find yourself sitting for hours at your desk and staring at your screen for hours during a long day at work. To avoid the strain this can cause, such as back pain and headaches, you should take frequent breaks.
During these breaks, you can do some stretches, get some steps in, chat with some co-workers or have a healthy
snack to keep your energy up. By working in short bursts rather than hours-long intervals, you will be able to stay focused throughout the full workday. Breaks will also enable you to take care of any things that come up in your personal life.
Work is challenging for everyone. Maintaining a successful career for several years is even more difficult, as countless long workdays can negatively impact your well-being. Fortunately, there are many ways you can have a positive relationship with your job. By prioritizing your mental and physical health, maintaining healthy relationships with your loved ones and approaching your projects in teams can significantly improve your experience at work. The changes you make to your day-to-day work life will have a positive impact on your personal life as well, and the cycle of positive feedback will continue in the long-term.
While you may find it difficult to practice everything on this list, starting is all that matters. You have completed the very first step in learning about the wide range of things you can do to survive many long workdays.
