Get More Done By Going Home On Time

I caught myself doing it this afternoon.  I’ve counseled others not to do it.  I know the wisdom of not doing, but I caught myself doing again.  I’m referring to working late.  We’ve all been there.  It just didn’t seem that there were enough hours during the day to get the vital tasks done, so we work a little late.  Tonight it was an hour, other nights have been 2 – 3 hours.

It starts out innocently enough; a crisis happens that pulls us from our priorities and we have to make time up after work.  Before we know it, we begin to stay after hours more and more.  Pretty soon, out of sheer habit, it becomes part of our regular routine.  We begin to count on those extra hours.  As a result, the hours earlier in the day begin to lose their importance because, after all, we can always catch up after work, so we don’t hustle — we don’t feel that sense of urgency that drives us forward.

The cure for this is simple.  Stop working late and put that sense of urgency back to the early hours of the day where it belongs.  Jim Citrin, best selling author and careers expert, surveyed 20 CEOs and found that they placed extreme importance , not on the hours at the end of the day, but upon those at the start.

This is the part of your morning routine over which you have the greatest control. To fit it all in, it's a must to start early. The latest any of the surveyed executives wake up is 6 a.m., and almost 80 percent wake up at 5:30 or earlier.

Some used those early hours for self-development.  Others used them to get an early start on the business day.  Still others found that quality family time was best found in the morning.  Whatever the CEOs’ priority, the morning was the time to work on it.

Shift the importance back into the early hours of the day and go home on time — Today!  Once you have a hard deadline where all items must be complete (say, quitting time?), it’s amazing how many of those pending tasks can find closure.

Tapping the Power of Your Morning Routine : Yahoo! Finance.

Now playing: Alison Krauss & Union Station - If I Didn't Know Any Better

Comments

[Doug Karr]

Great advise. It seems that we're in an age of information overload. I struggle to keep up with what I need to get done, and I look up and it's 2AM. It simply pushes my next day late and turns into a wicked circle.

One tip that may help others... if I start a great schedule on Monday, I tend to have the same schedule all week.

Thanks!

[Andrew Mason]

Absolutely, I am a very early riser and I find that I function the best early in the morning. I have a great morning routine to plan my next actions for the day and review my systems.

Great post!

Andrew..

[Samir]

My team is in India and so I *have* to work with them at night. Any tips for me?

[Dom Barnes]

I totally agree with this. I've seen a few posts recently (including the original post I think) and I see the good side of it. I'm an early riser anyway, usually wake up at 7am everyday, and I find I seem to get more done then too. Aside from having to keep the noise down so as not to wake anyone else, I find it easy to get more done in the morning than I do in the evening.
If I could train myself to go to bed earlier, then I could get a solid 7 hours sleep and get up early to do more.
Doing this, also means that you can keep your evenings free to relax and spend time with loved ones and family.
Lastly, I've thought a few times before, that if peoples days started earlier, more would get done. Why can't the work day start at 8.30 and be done that bit earlier?

[Miles]

It is very true, nice article.

[Leo]

I agree with you completely. I wake up at 4:30 a.m. every day (see my post on How I became an early riser) and this month I've been working on a morning routine to jump start my day (My Morning Routine). It's been a godsend for me, waking up early. It's enabled me to exercise (completed a marathon in December, now training for a triathlon) and get a jumpstart on my goals.

I think this time should be used for personal goals, not work stuff. We already commit too much time to our work. Don't add to it.

[James]

Although I would agree that getting an early start helps make one more productive, staying late can be driven by one's environment, so starting early winds up being simply working longer hours.

As for starting early, I would mean both rising early and starting work early. Besides the benefits of working without the distractions of others, it also can translate into a faster and more relaxing commute.

[Saru]

I agree with your views. But why does it happen that inspite of the fact that we reach office on time and begin the days' work multitasking and balancing between varied roles and responsibilities still we are not able to end the day's routine on time. The work drags us to the last hour of the evening and when we move out we always meet the stars twinkling on our heads. Is there some basic mistake in our routines or is it we are over demanding from 1 day or is it that we are not able to priortise or is it that we pay least importance to the fact that reaching home on time is also important!!!

[Ben Steiner]

Wow...we could really and truly use you here in Japan.

Any tips for applying your theories to a culture ingrained with the idea that work is higher on the list of priorities than family?

[Rise]

Now that staying at work in late hours is becoming common (not to work but..) to impress the boss and get promotion, it's good to see that there are people who think otherwise. I hope to remember it when I start working (when I graduate).