Everyone longs to leave the office or quite work on time but few actually do. Why? The answer is complex but in my research, reasons for not leaving the office on time or quitting work on time if you are working remotely, ranged from “I have so much work to do I can’t possibly get it all done in one day” to an honest “I had several conversations that went too long and then I spent the rest of the day cleaning out my drawers. Now I have to get my work done.”
Whatever your reason for your work efforts going beyond normal working hours, realize that desire is a prerequisite to make it happen. If desire is strong, you can push productivity through the lazy afternoon doldrums of low energy and slow mental functioning.
Remember a time when you absolutely had to get your work completed to make a flight? Attend an association meeting? Get to your son’s state finals basketball game? What did you do to enable you to walk out the door on time?
Chances are you innately made good productivity choices meaning you:
1. Ignored possible people interruptions and social conversations (you walked down the hall looking at your work, refusing to offer more than a ‘hello’ to other employees).
2. Put your phone on voice mail for a short period of time to reduce interruptions.
3. Avoided mental interruptions by resisting the urge to check email every 5 minutes.
4. Ignored texts until you completed a significant block of work.
5. Resisted rabbit holes on the Internet.
6. Watched the clock and were aware of the amount of time spent on each task.
7. Closed out your day and moved unfinished items to the next day.
What came naturally to you in a moment of desperation to close the door on work and open the door to your personal life, works on normal days as well. All it takes is desire and a productivity mindset.
Give these suggestions a try, then email me at Karla@KarlaBrandau.com and tell me how you make sure you complete a day’s work in one day.