Human Relations for Career & Personal Success, 11e (DuBrin)
Chapter 16 Developing Good Work Habits
1) The amount of quality work accomplished in relation to the resources consumed is the
emphasis of work habits in the workplace today. This is referred to as ________.
A) organization
B) time management
C) productivity
D) multitasking
2) A major reason that good work habits improve personal life is that they help prevent a person
3) Procrastination is so tempting because it ________.
A) often leads to a short-term reward
B) is a long-term career booster
C) releases endorphins (a natural pain killer) into the brain
D) usually has a financial payoff
4) A task is often procrastinated because it ________.
A) is too exciting to begin
B) turns control over to the person performing the task
C) does not appear to offer an immediate reward
D) appears so easy that it can be done anytime
5) An important perspective for combatting procrastination is to remember that ________.
A) a human-relations oriented boss will listen to a good excuse for being late with a project
B) your goal is to cross the finish line
C) your goal is to work steadily toward task accomplishment
D) only workaholics totally avoid procrastination
6) To overcome procrastination, Jane jump-starts herself by ________.
A) consuming an energy drink designed for procrastinators
B) pricking herself on the arm with a needle
C) composing a list of her strengths and weaknesses
D) getting started on a tiny task related to larger task
7) A mission statement is likely to improve personal productivity because it ________.
A) serves as a compass to direct your activities
B) establishes specific items to put on your to-do list
C) provides ethical guidelines for managing a career
D) helps a person overcome fear of success
8) Fear of success refers to the idea that people will sometimes procrastinate engaging in an
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9) A helpful perspective for many procrastinators is to keep in mind that the goal is to make
some progress toward crossing the finish line.
10) Candy correctly calculates the cost of procrastination when she says, “If I am four days late
in returning this rental car, it will costs me a penalty of $250. So, I’m going to return the car
when it is due.”
11) The following statement would probably help an individual minimize procrastination on a
report: “I hope to have this report to you by Friday.”
12) The most frequent reason for employee discipline is ________.
A) failure to prepare to-do lists
B) procrastination about preparing reports
C) poor attendance and absenteeism
D) office romances
13) A potential disadvantage of being overly concerned about neatness (being a neat freak) is
that ________.
A) staying neat can take time away from activities of major consequence
B) looking for misplaced items is a natural relaxant
C) you are likely to give the impression of being careless
D) you become too focused on the major issues facing the company
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14) An important output from working smarter rather than harder is that you ________.
A) get other people to perform your work
B) avoid procrastination
C) accomplish more in the same amount of time
D) improve your attendance and punctuality
15) Melissa, age 28, is in charge of online sales for an office furniture maker. To keep her
productivity at a high level, how much sleep do your recommend that she get?
A) Five to six hours per night
B) Seven to nine hours per night
C) 10 to 12 hours per night
D) Three to six at night, plus two hours during the day
16) A person is a true workaholic when he or she ________.
A) works an average of at least 60 hours per week
B) finds not working to be an uncomfortable experience
C) brings work home at least four nights per week
D) establishes unrealistic goals
17) Developing a mission statement tends to lower productivity because a mission statement is
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18) Judd was often late for class in high school and technical school, and he is now often late for
work as an airplane repair technician. Judd should investigate whether he suffers from a lack of
19) Julia is a “neat freak.” so she is likely to sometimes neglect accomplishing major tasks in her
quest for cleanliness and order.
20) Fred, a retired bank officer, gets a job delivering pizza for the large pizza chain, Domino’s.
He is correct when he says to his grandchildren, “Finally, I have found a job where speed is not a
factor in job performance.”
21) An advanced way of working smarter rather than harder is to duplicate work in the
22) The perfectionistic type of workaholic is fun to work with because he or she readily turns
over the control of projects to others.
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23) As the world of work has become more tech savvy, the to-do list ________.
A) remains an essential method of being organized
B) has been replaced by smart phone apps that tell you what to do
C) usually slows down a worker’s productivity
D) has become almost obsolete, like a pocket watch
24) A time-and-activity chart is particularly useful in ________.
A) developing a plan to combat procrastination
B) developing a mission statement
C) keeping track of progress on your activities
D) streamlining your work
25) Mariah is a hard-working financial analyst who wants to keep her productivity at a high
level. According to the observations of the Energy Project, Mariah should ________.
A) work though lunch break and then take a 10-minute nap at 3 p.m.
B) work all day sitting down
C) work all day standing up
26) A study with professional and clerical workers found that the energy-management strategies
most positively related to vitality were all ________.
A) related to ingesting energy-boosting substances
B) related to getting physical exercise on the job
C) directly work-related
27) To gain a productivity advantage from digital technology, it is important to ________.
A) make sure that you have the latest version of the technology
B) multitask whenever possible
C) convert the time saved into productive activity such as saving money
D) increase the volume on your e-mail and instant messages alerts
28) The key to concentrating on important tasks is to ________.
A) prepare a to-do list
B) establish high career goals
C) develop better self-discipline
D) consume enough caffeine
29) A major purpose of work streamlining is to ________.
A) minimize duplication of effort and waste
B) increase the speed at which you work
C) get your to-do list down to less than 10 items per day
D) share your responsibilities with others
30) To achieve breakthrough accomplishments, use the ________ tactic.
A) work at a steady pace
B) concentrate on a task of potentially major significance
C) schedule similar tasks together
D) identify and plug time leaks
31) ________ is used for such essential activities as thinking, planning, getting organized, doing
analytical work, writing reports, and doing creative tasks.
A) Multitasking
B) Streamlining
C) Working during low energy periods
D) Quiet time
32) Multitasking is recommended for ________.
A) creative assignments
B) workers who procrastinate
C) breakthrough tasks
D) routine tasks
33) Peyton does a mind sweep when she makes a list of everything she has to do, and then places
34) A to-do list is basically a planning tool.
35) According to the Energy Project, a recommended way of boosting your energy is to alternate
36) In the modern organization, so long as you are using digital technology you are being
37) Personal productivity will often be lowered by enabling beeps and alerts that float on your
screen to announce the arrival of e-mails or the fact that somebody in your Skype network is now
38) A potential danger noted with information technology-related productivity tools is that
40) Workers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have to work extra hard to
concentrate on important tasks.
41) Streamlining work is a way of adding tasks to a work process yet not increasing the amount
of time needed to do the entire task.
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42) A useful contributor to work streamlining is to eliminate tasks that do not add value, such as
increasing revenue or decreasing costs.
43) Given that teamwork is so heavily emphasized on the job, quiet time is no longer important
for tasks such as thinking, getting organized, and doing analytical reports.
44) Making use of bits of time is recommended as a constructive form of multitasking.
45) With respect to workplace distractions, a CareerBuilder survey found that ________.
A) being able to look out the window is very distracting
B) gossip and noisy coworkers are major sources of distraction
C) facing deadlines is quite distracting
D) Internet shopping networks are the major source of distraction
46) A time log is helpful in overcoming ________.
A) creativity blocks
B) moments of peak performance
C) planning errors
D) time leaks
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47) Bart, a hard-working but not very productive website developer at a motorcycle
manufacturer, should consider which one of the following actions to boost his productivity?
A) Set a time limit for most tasks he faces
B) Label the company website “Bart’s world” to boost his motivation
C) Invest about five hours on every task
D) Use two smart phones so he will almost never miss a phone call
48) Dora often accomplishes her tasks by grouping similar tasks together and working on them
all at once. This is called ________.
A) multitasking
B) streamlining
C) clustering
D) workaholism
49) Danielle daydreams frequently while working as a computer coder, which will probably
enhance her productivity because fantasy on the job enhances satisfaction.
50) A recommended approach to time management is to take a break of several hours between
tasks so you can be fresh enough to attain high productivity on the next task.