Are you looking for a way to become more productive in the work place? If you are like most people, the main thing holding you back from excelling in your career is probably linked to one primary culprit: bad habits. If you are ready to start putting all that you can into your workday, here are 5 bad habits that you might want to examine more closely as well as the steps you can take to break these habits if any of them sound like you.

Bad Habit #1: Poor Planning

For many people, the main obstacle between themselves and a productive workday is simply failure to plan accordingly. Failure to plan your day can result in a great deal of wasted time throughout the day. Or, you may spend a good portion of your morning trying to figure out what you are going to do for the day. In order to be more productive each workday, try planning for the following day before you leave work each day. This way, you will be mentally prepared to start tackling tasks as soon as you walk throughout the door.

Bad Habit #2: Getting Caught Up in Emails

Another bad habit that many people fall into is getting caught up in responding to emails. Each time you stop what you are doing in order to respond to an email, you lose your train of thought on the task at hand. While there is certainly something to be said about providing a timely response to emails, dropping everything to respond right away is counterproductive. Instead of being reactionary, set aside a certain time during the day to sit down and go through your emails. If necessary, set aside several times throughout the day, but resist the urge to respond to your emails as soon as they pop up – particularly if you are working on something else at the time.

Bad Habit #3: Bringing Home to Work

If you are one of the lucky people who is able to work from out of the home, you know that it is easy to get sidetracked by other household duties rather than tending to work tasks. As a result, time slips away quickly and your work doesn’t get finished. If you work from home, be sure to set aside certain hours for work and to dedicate all of that time to work rather than trying to multi-task by juggling your work life with your home life. The same holds true if you are commuting to work – avoid scheduling routine appointments during work hours and tell friends and family not to call unless it is an emergency.

Bad Habit #4: Failing to be Timely

Failure to keep an eye on the clock can be highly detrimental to your career. Obviously, arriving late to work can ultimately lead to your termination. But, running late to meetings can also hinder your career. Not only does this make you look bad in front of your co-workers and superiors, it also causes you to miss out on important information that may have already been discussed. Or, if the meeting is started late because the group was waiting for you to arrive, you are being discourteous to the other people involved in the meeting. Not only are you wasting their time, you may also be causing them to be late to other meetings, which will result in a slow down of productivity for everyone involved. If you have a problem with running late, make it your goal to arrive early – maybe then you will arrive on time.

Bad Habit #5: Lack of Personal Care

Finally, failure to take care of your health and your personal hygiene can cause severe problems in the workplace. Poor hygiene makes you unapproachable and leaves a poor impression on those around you, which reduces your chances of advancing in your career. In addition, poor health can result in missed workdays. Eating properly and getting regular exercise, on the other hand, will give you more energy. As a result, you will be better prepared to tackle the tasks before you.