Everyone employed is an employee, even those who are leaders. In order to be a good leader, you must first be a good employee. In order to be a great employee, you must be a team player. Regardless of your title, these 3 simple tips will improve your performance at work.
- Learn to prioritize. It can feel overwhelming to think about all the tasks you must complete in a week. But, you don’t climb a mountain without taking it one step at a time. The trick to completing a mountain of work is by prioritizing. Use a notebook or a spreadsheet to categorize projects by deadline, and then sort them by importance and executive visibility. You can even rate the projects on difficulty, time needed, or anything else that will help you organize your workload. Focus on what’s most important and pressing first, and then tackle the list one item at a time.
- Continue to learn. You can’t be a great employee without focusing on your personal development. Stay hungry to learn as much as possible. Don’t get comfortable or complacent, or ever convince yourself that you have mastered your field. There is always room to grow, and the workplace is always evolving, so you should too!
- Commit yourself every day. It’s easy to just go through the motions at work, but if you are not fully committed to your job, and invested in your work, you will most likely feel unfilled and even bored at work. If you fully commit to your work, and you really invest yourself in your projects, you will be more productive, successful, and ultimately feel more fulfilled in your work.
At the end of the day, it’s really about putting your best foot forward whether you are an individual contributor or a leader in your company. We should all be committed to doing the best we can do every day, in everything that we do. Otherwise, what’s the point?