#BuildYourBusiness
Life Area: Professional
I do a ton of reading. These days I listen to about an audio book a week using Audible while I workout or commute. On top of that, I read hardcover books, magazines and other periodicals, and targeted, personalized, responsive online magazines and articles using apps such as Flipboard and Feedly. If I can’t read something I’ve come across online until later, I save it in Pocket. In putting together today’s blog post I used a number of those different resources to compile today’s content:
7 Tips On How To Best End Your Workday
Do you often find yourself running out of workday before you run out of work? I do! And I find that if I can remember to implement many, if not all, of these 7 tips I find myself able to end the day on a high note and be prepared to hit the ground running tomorrow:
Tip #1: Prepare for tomorrow’s workday. Many sources recommend ending your workday by preparing for tomorrow’s. From Forbes.com we learn: be sure to check-off all you accomplished today and set a clear plan for tomorrow’s tasks. Use a task management app such as Todoist or simply a task list in Evernote to organize your ideas, tasks and goals in one place.
Tip #2: Move end-of-day meetings to tomorrow. We are all running out of energy at day’s end. Meetings held late in the day can be unproductive as people’s energy levels wane. In the Huffington Post it was recommended to schedule time to catch-up the next day instead, and explain you’d like to give it your full energy and attention. Often times they will feel relieved themselves.
Tip #3: Say a proper goodbye. We learn on BusinessInsider.com that a friendly goodbye to your team helps build rapport as well as signal that you are gone for the day. Say goodbye once to those around you to minimize distractions for those still at work.
Tip #4: Organize your desk. One of the world’s foremost authorities on time management is my friend and mentor Brian Tracy. Brian tells us, “50% of time is wasted on low-value activities like looking for information. Having an organized desk helps you think clearly and effectively.” I would add: have only on your desk those things that you need for the task at hand; file everything else away to do away with distraction.
Tip #5: Sign out of your work email on your phone. We learn from a recent productivity article on Entrepreneur.com that taking a real break from work is important to allow your brain to recover and re-energize. Try disabling your email and chat in the settings of your phone and use an auto-responder to explain you will respond to emails the next day.
Tip #6: Perform a brain dump. In an article found on Forbes.com, I was reminded to reduce mental clutter by writing anything that’s on our minds or that we need to remember. This is where Evernote comes in handy for me once again. In Evernote, I keep a Master Task List, a Weekly Task List and a ToDo Today list. You can make it as simple as taking a blank sheet of paper and writing down tomorrow’s essentials, later organizing that list into tasks or todos.
Tip #7: Reflect on your day. And from the Harvard Business Review (HBR.org), we learn writing down our achievements can help boost long-term happiness. Reflecting can help leave the day behind you and create a good mood for the evening. Try asking yourself two questions: 1) What was my biggest achievement of the day? And, 2) What did I learn today that will help me in the future?
YOUR ACTION STEP
Before you end your workday today, try just one of these tips. With just 10 minutes, see what you can do to feel more productive and in control of your tomorrow.
One of my missions in life is to move and inspire people to live their highest vision. It is my honor and privilege to serve you in this way. I make it an absolute MUST to inspire each and every one of you to STEP UP and live the life of your dreams, NOW, and not settle for less than you can be, do, have, say or believe.
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