Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the
Speaker 1: new world of work where location and hours are more
Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to create
Speaker 1: a shutdown ritual. Identify the steps you need to take
Speaker 1: when you stop work so you can start again quickly,
Speaker 1: knowing you're on track for all your big goals. I'll
Speaker 1: offer five questions to guide your shutdown and then describe
Speaker 1: what each entails. First, what were my big accomplishments today? Second?
Speaker 1: Did I do what I planned to do today? Third?
Speaker 1: What new tasks came up today? Four? What's the hard
Speaker 1: landscape for tomorrow? And finally, what are my priorities for tomorrow?
Speaker 1: The first question is pretty simple. You want to start
Speaker 1: your shutdown ritual by recognizing your bushmans for the day.
Speaker 1: Write them down on the done list we've talked about before.
Speaker 1: Progress is motivating. When you reflect on what you've gotten done,
Speaker 1: you're inspired to keep going. After you've acknowledged your accomplishments,
Speaker 1: look back at your to do list for the day.
Speaker 1: Did you get to everything that you planned? If not,
Speaker 1: knock out any tasks you can address right now. So
Speaker 1: you in the day without nagging to do. If there
Speaker 1: are things you can't do now, make a plan for
Speaker 1: completing them. And if there's something that's still in process,
Speaker 1: make a note about where to pick back up. To
Speaker 1: save yourself time figuring that out tomorrow, you could even
Speaker 1: type start here in capital letters and a document you're editing.
Speaker 1: As for step three, well, new stuff always comes up,
Speaker 1: so figure out what it is and make a plan
Speaker 1: for dealing with it. Assign things a spot on your calendar.
Speaker 1: It might be next week, it might be two months
Speaker 1: from now. But all tasks take time, so designating a
Speaker 1: time is a good way to make sure they happen.
Speaker 1: Question four turns your attention to tomorrow. Look at your calendar.
Speaker 1: Are there things that have to happen at specific times?
Speaker 1: David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, calls these the
Speaker 1: hard landscape. If you need to prep for any of
Speaker 1: these events, do that now or figure out when in
Speaker 1: tomorrow's schedule the prep can happen. Finally, consider tomorrow's priorities.
Speaker 1: Two's maybe three additional important but not urgent tasks and
Speaker 1: schedule these in around the hard landscape. Well, this may
Speaker 1: sound like a lot, it really isn't. Once you get
Speaker 1: into the habit of using a shutdown ritual, it can
Speaker 1: take fifteen minutes or less. You might set an alarm
Speaker 1: on your phone for thirty minutes before you plan to
Speaker 1: stop working. That leaves time to get to a good
Speaker 1: stopping place and then time to go through the ritual.
Speaker 1: Even if leaving work just means closing your laptop these days,
Speaker 1: a shutdown ritual is still time well spent. When you
Speaker 1: sit down at your laptop next, you won't burn time
Speaker 1: deciding what to do. You know exactly what you need
Speaker 1: to do, so you're not lured into a whole morning
Speaker 1: in your inbox. If you have a shutdown ritual that
Speaker 1: works for you, I'd love to hear about it. You
Speaker 1: can let me know at Laura at Laura Vanderkamp dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's the succeeding in the New Corner Office. The New
Speaker 1: Corner Office is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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Speaker 1: or wherever you get your favorite shows.