Over Time is an Oxymoron. 3 Tips to Getting OUT When the Day is Over.

For a lot of you, today is your last day before leaving for religious holidays.  What does that mean?  That you’re probably struggling to get OUT of the office on time tonight.  (Does that sound like EVERY night?)  To make that easier, here are a few time management tips to help you get out of the office and get into the rest of your life.

#1. Give yourself a reward for LEAVING. Give yourself an incentive to high tail it OUT of the office on time – at least for those special days, like holidays – or Fridays – or whenever. Believe me, we at OfficeTime understand hard work, but we also understand the price for not keeping golden boundaries around the end of the work day. One way to be sure to clock out on time is to schedule an activity right after work. That can be a drink with friends, a yoga class, a walk with your kids.  Whatever.  But make it a reward that will get you OUT the door at the proverbial 5pm whistle.

#2.  Accept it.  The inbox is never empty. Part of the problem is that the inbox is simply never empty.  The work keeps coming, people’s expectations are everywhere, and it’s all we can do to just surf that wave of endless email.  Once you stop and consciously realize, however, that you can only accomplish as much as one day will allow, you can set better expectations for yourself (AND help everyone ELSE to set better expectations as well).

#3. Take back the power! We don’t often plug our Time Tracker here on our blog, but the truth is that a simple, honest account of how much you accomplished on any given day just MIGHT be the tipping point to a feeling of success and accomplishment.  And THAT can give you the power to say, GOOD JOB, and walk out the door. You can download a limited version of the Office Time App at NO charge to employ this very basic principle and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done, and a kick in the rear to get out the door.

How do you use OfficeTime? Let us know – or share your own best time management tips – and get featured in our blog!

Time. The real commodity.

Stephen Dodd, Creator of  OfficeTime.net