Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to try a shutdown ritual at the
Speaker 1: end of your work day. So confession time here. I've
Speaker 1: spent much of my career running my own business, and
Speaker 1: even when I had an in the office job, I
Speaker 1: was freelancing on the side, so my work day has
Speaker 1: never been officially done. A home office facilitates this. I
Speaker 1: can always go back in, and even when I became
Speaker 1: a parent and had to pick up a kid at
Speaker 1: daycare or Sundays at her home, I'd often jump back
Speaker 1: on after kid bedtime, and I'll do some work on
Speaker 1: weekends as well if there's an opportunity to do so.
Speaker 1: The result is that I would really never turn off
Speaker 1: my laptop, and this worked fine until it didn't. At
Speaker 1: some point this past summer, my trustee MacBook Pro just
Speaker 1: burned out. The folks at the Apple store were able
Speaker 1: to fix it, but I learned my lesson. Now, at
Speaker 1: least a few days per week, I officially close out
Speaker 1: of everything and shut it down. Now I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that happens at five pm, but it does happen at
Speaker 1: least an hour before I go to bed. This experience
Speaker 1: has gotten me interested in the idea of shutdown rituals
Speaker 1: in general. I think they're a great idea. People who
Speaker 1: are interested in productivity will at least think about the
Speaker 1: start of their work days and what they'd like to accomplish,
Speaker 1: but the end of the work day can be all
Speaker 1: over the map. And even if you do intend to
Speaker 1: do a little more work at night after your kids
Speaker 1: go to bed or after you go to your softball practice,
Speaker 1: a proper shutdown ritual can set you up for a
Speaker 1: great evening and a great next day. So what should
Speaker 1: it include? Well, first, it should start quite a while
Speaker 1: before you actually intend to leave, an hour or so
Speaker 1: before quitting time. Revisit the days to do list. What
Speaker 1: absolutely needs to happen before tomorrow. You can either buckle
Speaker 1: down and get it done, or if you work at night,
Speaker 1: sometimes you can consciously decide to block it in from
Speaker 1: say eight thirty to nine thirty pm. But in any case,
Speaker 1: you need to make a choice and a plan. If
Speaker 1: something is not going to happen, just be honest about
Speaker 1: it and whether it should get pushed to tomorrow or
Speaker 1: here's the thought whether it actually needs to get done
Speaker 1: at all. If there's anyone you need to speak to,
Speaker 1: now would be a good time. If you leave these
Speaker 1: conversations until the last possible minute, they will just delay
Speaker 1: your trip outdoor About twenty minutes before quitting time, you
Speaker 1: can save any work or send off anything that's supposed
Speaker 1: to go in. Then you can spend a few minutes
Speaker 1: reflecting on the day. What went well, how can you
Speaker 1: capitalize on that, What needs to change, how can you
Speaker 1: make that happen. Are you happy with how you spent
Speaker 1: your time or would you like to rework your schedule?
Speaker 1: Then spend a few minutes planning what needs to happen tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Look at your calendar so you're familiar with the day's landscape.
Speaker 1: When do you have appointments? How long will each take?
Speaker 1: Do you need to do anything more to prepare for
Speaker 1: these What other priorities do you have for the day?
Speaker 1: List your top three or four to five at most.
Speaker 1: How long will each of these things take? Put an
Speaker 1: estimate next to each. Now look at the next day's
Speaker 1: schedule and see where you can fit these things in.
Speaker 1: Taking a few minutes to do this allows you to
Speaker 1: make strategic choices. For instance, if you have some work
Speaker 1: that's going to take an hour and you have a
Speaker 1: meeting at nine thirty am, you might decide to be
Speaker 1: in your desk and working by eight thirty so you
Speaker 1: can get it done. This means you don't have to
Speaker 1: find an hour long slot later, which might become more
Speaker 1: difficult as stuff comes up. Map out the day and
Speaker 1: be sure to leave plenty of open space. Knowing the
Speaker 1: plan means when you show up tomorrow, you won't waste
Speaker 1: valuable time and mental energy deciding what to do. And yes,
Speaker 1: schedules can change. Of course, they can change, but they
Speaker 1: also might not change, so best to have a plan.
Speaker 1: Then finally, think about your evening. What would make your
Speaker 1: evening feel good? If you and your family have plans,
Speaker 1: that's great. If not, set an intention, maybe to call
Speaker 1: a friend, lift weights in your basement, cook that slightly
Speaker 1: more elaborate dinner you've been thinking about, or read fifty
Speaker 1: pages in the novel you just picked up. When we
Speaker 1: think through our personal time, it starts to seem bigger
Speaker 1: in our mental accounting, which is good for reminding us
Speaker 1: that we don't actually spend all our time working, even
Speaker 1: if it sometimes feels like it, then you can grab
Speaker 1: your things and walk out the door feeling good about
Speaker 1: your day. And you can do the same thing from
Speaker 1: a home office too, even if you'll be going back in.
Speaker 1: You can shut door and consciously consider yourself off the
Speaker 1: clock for a while. If nothing else, your laptop will
Speaker 1: thank you. Do you have a shutdown ritual? Please let
Speaker 1: me know at Before Breakfast podcast at I heart media
Speaker 1: dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's b the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.