How to Develop Excellent Work Habits

Way 1: Listen 

What did your father and mother teach you to develop excellent work habits? By example, my mother taught us to be faithful and dependable. My father did that too, but he also  taught us to work hard and do it right, and work before play. [ugh, I hated that rule, especially as a boy]. 

Employers are looking for workers who will listen to instructions and do things right. Sometimes, the policies and procedures affect the reputation of the firm. Other times, we need to listen for our own safety. 

Way 2: Be a Number 1 Worker

But the most valuable advice I received was not even meant for me. At Camp Manitoumi, during Family Week, we parents were invited to preview a film (the sanctified version of “movie”) called “How to Make Money,” by Dr. Kent Hovind. The intended audience for the film was Jr. High. In it, Dr. Kent identified 4 arbitrary classifications for workers: 

1. Sees what needs to be done and does it. He is executive material. His class is very rare.

2. Is asked to do a job and then comes back and asks what to do next. This, too, is unusual, but this person will always have a job. 

3. Must be asked. He is asked to do something, does it, then returns to what he was doing before. Unfortunately, this was me. 

4. Must be found. This is the teen who knows how to dissappear to avoid doing his chores. It is the adult riding on the back of a lift truck, waving at his co-workers as they are actually working. 

After seeing this video, not only did we adults agree it would be a great idea to show it to our teenagers, but it affected at least one adult–me. I was a young business owner. After viewing this film, the following verses from Proverbs became more meaningful to me. When I applied the principles as a #1 worker, I gained more profits and favor with my customers. My wife and I passed these timeless values onto our children, and they, too, have excellent work habits. 

What does society teach us about work? Take it easy. Don’t work to hard. Will that help us develop excellent work habits? Probably not.

Why work? If we stay home, we can get paid more by the government than by a job.

What do you think of that? Is this right? What does the Bible say?  

King Solomon had much to say about laziness versus a good work ethic; he contrasts them throughout the book of Proverbs. 

Some people are unable to work for one reason or another. A lazy person, however, is healthy enough and has opportunities but chooses not to work. Perhaps he lives on government checks or he mooches from other people. If he ever is hired, he never shows up for his job. He always has an excuse for why he can’t be there. Laborers are needed, yes, but the right kind of laborers.

Way 3: Be Industrious, not Lazy

Are we couch potatoes? Do we sit or lie down in front of a television, video game set, computer, or social media device and do nothing but entertain ourselves for long hours? Do we ignore responsibilities? A couch potato is a sluggard. Employers don’t like that kind of worker. They want someone industrious, someone who will see the work that needs to be done and get up and do it. He is self-disciplined to work now and play later.

Solomon describes the sluggard:

I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.

[Likewise, we can guess when a sluggard lives in our neighborhood. His appearance is scruffy, he wears old unwashed clothes, the grass in his yard is a foot long, and the house needs a lot of paint and repair. We might think of the fictional character, Lafe Crick in his appearances in the Beverly HillBillies sitcoms when we think of a sluggard]

I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest– and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man [both figures of speech denote sudden loss]. (Proverbs 24:30-34, NIV)

“As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed” (Proverbs 26:14, NIV). Do we get up when it is time to get up, or do we ignore our responsibilities and use excuses to stay in bed?

“The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth” (Proverbs 26:15, NIV). This expression is a poetic exaggeration (a hyperbole), but we get the point.

“The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside!’ or, ‘I will be murdered in the streets!’” (Proverbs 22:13, NIV) A sluggard may contrive wild excuses so he will not have to get off his bed or couch and do something.

Assigning a task to a sluggard is said to be as irritating “as vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes” (Proverbs 10:26, NIV). We cannot count on a lazy person to complete a task; he will make excuses and not do it at all or will not do it well. We should not rely on him for anything.

“The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly” (Proverbs 26:16, NIV). He grows proud because he has a lot of time to think and figure out what everyone else should do. The severest critics are those who are just observers from the stands or their armchairs. Experience from work, however, is a great teacher. We have enough armchair quarterbacks; we need people to get off the couch and into the game!

Way 4: Be Self-Motivated; lessons from the ant and the bee

Solomon tells the lazy person, “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest” (Proverbs 6:6-7 NIV).

An ant is self-motivated. Are we, or do we need someone to drag us out of bed every morning and prod us to get to work? A self-motivated person sees what needs to be done and gets up early. He sees opportunities and takes advantage of them.

Another busy insect is the bee. We may have heard the expression, “Busy as a bee.” Bees are always working, providing for their hive, their home. Are we?

Way 5: Be Opportunistic and Thankful

Not all work is pleasant, but it is usually profitable. God gives each of us opportunities. His design for us is to spend a reasonable time working (if possible), either at home or outside the home. God has assigned six days for us to accomplish our work (Exodus 20:9) and then rest.

If we are cash-poor, we must ask ourselves if it is our fault. Have we prayed for opportunities to work and then sought them out, or are we looking for our government or someone else to bail us out? We will feel much better about ourselves if we work.

Here are 5 benefits of our labor

• It helps us provide for our needs, our future, and it funds charities.
• We exercise our muscles and stimulate our brains (which television or social media seldom do)
• New experiences
• Social interactions
• Rewards for our labor and accomplishments (Proverbs 12:24,27; 13:4).

“The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway” (Proverbs 15:19 NIV). The diligent usually have fewer problems getting what they want in life because they work for it, while the sluggard is stuck where he is. So what do we want—a hard life from slothfulness or a life of blessings from diligence and work?

Discussion

What is a sluggard, and what are his characteristics?

What are 5 ways to failproof ways to impress your employer?

Focus Verse

Proverbs 10:4 (NIV) “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.i

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