Savvy Whippersnappers who are serious about their careers know that the last hour of any workday should be spent staring at the clock, taking frequent bathroom breaks to pass the time, or playing around on Tumblr. (We know, it’s hard to resist the temptation!) If you’re at a loss for what to do to wrap up your day, Ed’s got five essential tips that will get you prepped and ready to go for the next day.
1) Review your daily to-do list one more time.
Think about the list of tasks that you started with at the beginning of the day. Chances are your day didn’t go the way you thought it would, and you got sidetracked while working on some of them. Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation, advises reviewing your to-do list one more time before leaving the office to ensure that the top items have been checked off. This allows you to prioritize anything you didn’t get to for the next day. It’ll also keep you from waking up in the middle of the night, panicking about an important phone call that wasn’t made or an email you didn’t send.
2) Plan ahead for tomorrow morning.
If you can, try to avoid scheduling a big meeting or tackling a huge project at the end of the day. Instead, take that time to do some light research, create a to-do list for the next day, or even brainstorm ideas for stories or projects you’d like to work on later.
Not sure what to prioritize first? David Scarola, Vice President of The Alternative Board, says to define three critical or challenging tasks to work on the next morning and choose one to complete before 10 AM. “By doing this, you won’t waste your peak productivity time on figuring out what to do or lose time on emails,” Scarola advises.
3) Read.
Think about all of the newsletters you receive throughout the day and all those Twitter articles you bookmark for later. This is your chance to finally catch up! Use the last hour to check in on the news so you can be as well-informed on trending topics as possible.
4) Organize your desk.
By the end of the workday, our desks hardly look as Instagram minimalist chic as they might have started out (shudder). Vicki Morris, Founder and Career Happiness Coach at InspiredWork, recommends putting aside some time to organize your desk. You could even try a little Feng Shui, which will provide you with a sense of accomplishment and peace that will help set your next day up for success.
5) Meditate.
Author Rachel Weingarten believes that the last hour of the workday is now turning into a myth, since so many of us are “on” via smartphones and social media well past the traditional 9 to 5 schedule. She advises employees of all levels take some time either at the beginning or end of the day to meditate. Find something that grounds you—like a book, soothing music, or even funny cartoons from The New Yorker—and gently ease out of the day. “When you give yourself permission to unplug, you can make that last hour even more productive. It’s like the idea of two steps forward, one step back, but in a positive way,” she says.
Heather Taylor is a freelance writer who has covered events for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, MTV, L’Oreal Paris, and more. A graduate from Cal Lutheran University, she loves discussing brand mascots, TV shows, and the shifting times of pop culture and advertising. Tweet her @howveryheather
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