As a working mom, I make work-life balance a priority, so I always leave the office on time. Learn how you can do it with these six easy hacks in this post.
This post is sponsored by Boise Paper.
If you are a working mom, then you likely have to pick up a child from a childcare center, an after school program, or an extracurricular sport or activity. If you don’t always leave the office on time, you might be rushing (read speeding!) to pick them up, arrive late, or worry your child that you have “forgotten” about him or her.
I get off work at 5 and live about 45 minutes away from the office. My kids’ schools, seven-year-old daughter’s after school program, and 14-year-old son’s extracurricular programs are all on that side of town.
Sports practices end at 5:30 and the afterschool program closes at 6. So, I HAVE to get out of the office on time. If I’m not, then I’ve got a teenager sitting on the sports field and additional fees to pay to the afterschool program for being late.
It’s important to draw a hard line between work and home. It really helps with work-life balance. Are you wondering how can I leave work on time?
1. TO DO LIST
I start the day with a to do list. Do the most important things first. Once you have completed your priority work, your goal is just to make progress on other tasks or projects, without the pressure of needing to finish them. Keep it simple.
Your To Do list should have NO MORE THAN THREE THINGS on it for a given day. If you could only do one thing today to move your business forward, what would that thing be? Make this the #1 item on your To Do list.
Click here for a free to do list printable.
2. TIMEBLOCKING
“Giving every hour a job typically lets you make much more efficient use of your time.” “It allows you to schedule work for the time where it makes the most sense—batching together small things, tackling hard things when you have the long stretches to make progress, and so on.
The other advantage is that it provides you more accurate feedback on how much free time you actually have most days and how long certain recurring tasks actually take,” he says. (Source)
Stop wasting your time during the day. Stop checking your email every five minutes. Set aside a morning block and an afternoon block to work through and respond to any emails. Unless you are in customer service where all emails need a response immediately, this should work for you.
3. LUNCH BREAK
Lunch breaks are important, as they give you enough downtime to refresh yourself and focus for the rest of the day.
Start using your lunch break in ways that can help you feel better, be more productive, and buy you free time later in the day. Read 5 Ways to Use Lunch Breaks More Effectively.
4. HABIT
If you make it a habit to always leave the office on time every day, your boss and colleagues will come to expect it. Otherwise, leaving 15 minutes late becomes the norm and when you leave “on time,” it will look like you are leaving early.
5. RITUAL
Create an end of day ritual. Review your calendar for the next day. Create your list of three most important priorities. Gather files you will need. Set yourself up to hit the ground running the next day.
6. PAPER
If you use quality paper, you won’t have to worry about fighting with the printer when you’re trying to always leave the office on time.
According to a survey, the average worker spends two weeks out of each year wrestling with tech issues. That’s the equivalent of a normal vacation or an average of 20 minutes every work day.
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The habit thing is soooooo important. If you can’t respect your own time, then other people will not. Another thing I would add is to stand firm to people who distract you or suck time from you. It’s soooo important to stand up to them, and it’s hard especially if you are a people-pleaser or are really dedicated to your job. But it HAS to be done – great post!
I was in self employment for quite a while. It can be challenging, especially when you need to ramp up. You have to be disciplined not to work, but to stop!
I maintain a healthy work life balance by turning off my work phone/laptop at 5:00 each night. The calls and emails that come in after that can wait until the next day.
I believe that the first thing people need to do is identify what truly matters to them and communicate it. Don’t hide it and don’t expect others to guess what makes you feel balanced and fulfilled.
I am retired.
Before I retired I was a textbook editor/writer, so basically I read and wrote all day. What always helped me maintain balance was being able to spend my leisure time reading the mysteries and thrillers that I loved and that had nothing to do with “work.”
It is so important to establish and maintain a routine. While work and “real” life might each get hectic at times, it helps to have a solid morning, lunchtime, dinnertime, nighttime routine.
I always leave my work at work when i come home i spend my time with my family always have on night we have a pizza/game night with my 2 kids its pretty awesome i love it
I try to maintain a healthy balance by leaving work and all of it’s stresses at the door. I hate to bring work home.
Retire!
Thank you for the giveaway. I am an older mom who JUST graduated with an associate degree in Social Work (in May!!). It has been a while since I’ve been in the workforce, but I did have to learn how to balance school and home life. It is extremely important to make enough time for family and yourself. Everyone should share chores as well. My son and husband have full-time jobs, so it can be tough to have enough quality time together. I always tried to have my school work completed by Friday evening so that we could have more time together on Saturday’s. I didn’t want to spend my entire week along with weekends completing school assignments.
To remind my self of life and nature outside of my office cubicle, I maintain a Sea Monkey Ocean View Aquarium on my desktop. When I get home, to forget about the first half of my day I mix a few Screwdrivers, that is vodka and orange juice, and pick up my banjo for some entertainment.
Hope to win!
Pray first, exercise and then work
It really can be hard sometimes that is for sure. For us, we try to leave work….at work when we can! We try to play a game or something fun at night to help us relax!
I make a rule not to check my work email on weekends or after 5.
We leave work at work.. and also o like to walk with my boys or take them out to play. Being with them outdoors refreshing.
It is hard. I just try my best to be present when I’m not at work. No tips or tricks here.
Like you, I have kids to pick up after work. I have to leave on time.
I maintain it by making sure that my cell phone is off after 5pm
I don’t. LOL I check work emails all through the day. But I do try to keep friendships and work separate.
I make sure to eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep. I also leave any work stress at work.
I try to know when to stop. It’s easy to get caught up in what you’re doing and go overboard.
I do it by not bringing work home. Once I’m gone from work, it’s out of my mind. I don’t want to think about it.
I try to limit my working hours and also plan fun things to do with family and friends during the week. I focus on eating healthy and getting enough sleep so I can tackle everything!
I am retired now, but before I tried not to bring work home
I take time every day to pray and exercise.
I think it is really important not to carry work into your personal time and not respond to phone calls or emails when you are supposed to be spending time with family.
I don’t think I do maintain a healthy balance. Its not as bad as it used to be though.
I try my best to complete a task in full before the end of the day or weekend, even if it means staying a bit late, because when I do, I am not thinking about it all night!
I also take some things to work with me to do on my break or lunch , such as paying bills, making a call or two, fixing a button, or going through a stack of old mail!
I don’t work, but I get enough activity as the human yo-yo running around with two children.
I work from home at night when the kids go to sleep
I schedule in personal time on my calendar – and treat it just as sacredly as I would any other appointment: no canceling it at the last minute or letting someone schedule over it.
I am still working on my work-home balance, but keeping a calendar and also having the courage to put AWAY my laptop/phone and stop checking work emails at the appropriate time to focus on my family are two things that help me.
I am self employed and regularly self care days.
Schedule schedule schedule I cannot live without one and I keep everything in a notebook that goes with me everywhere so I can keep track while I am out and about.
I try to take time to myself to maintain the balance
I have a very flexible job, so I’m very lucky. But, I try to keep my work at work and don’t bring it home with me. I also try to get enough sleep and eat right so I’m happy! 🙂
I set a firm schedule and I stick to it. Absolutely no distractions, and it works for me.
I try to make time for myself and special time for the kids too.
considering I sell Real Estate, sometimes it can be very hard to maintain a balance because my work follows me everywhere. I learned several years ago that I had to put balances in place so the first thing I did was out a voice mail on my cell stating that calls received after 6 pm would be returned the following day. While I do still check the messages and return the important calls, I return those that are not the next day. Also, I amp up family time when we have our slow times at work.
Dont bring your work home with you, when you are off ,concentrate on your priorities.
As soon as I clock out I don’t look at my phone or work emails.
I try to balance 4 kids, work, and me/couple time by making a lot of lists and making sure that I leave my work there!!
Some days it’s very hard..but I usually try to leave work at work.
I make time for myself and my family every day. I spend time on things that are important to me like my hobbies.
I’m unemployed now.
Lots of planning, scheduling and list making. I schedule some down-time to be sure it happens!
It takes a lot of planning.
I don’t know I am a stay at home mom!
I do my best to leave my work behind when I am at home and try not to think about any issues at home when at work.
When I’m at work I’m at work, when I’m at home I’m at home. I try very hard to focus on wherever I am and live in the moment there instead of trying to do both at once.
I think the most important two factors are time management and balance.
i maintain by making sure to leave work at work and home at home
I make sure I leave all the stress from work at work. When I come home to family it’s all about family time.
I maintain a healthy work life balance by taking days off(approved that is). So many people at my work let their time off rack up so high they lose it!
I keep a strict schedule, my work is done at 6 everyday and after that, it’s time for my home life.
Constantly remind myself I’m working to live, not living to work.
I maintain a healthy work life balance by taking time off work when I get too stressed out. Thanks for the giveaway. I hope that I win.
I make a point to use all my vacation days each year, in addition to not checking work emails when I’m out of the office.
I try not to bring work home and I don’t take work calls after 7
I am not working right now; but I remember how difficult it is to break away sometimes. I would always
feel like I should do more before leaving for home. One day, I decided to try to be more organized in the morning. Looking, make calls, and to more aware when I came in for the day. That really worked for me.
I was able to figure out what needed to be done and what could wait….if it could wait sometimes it waited one more day and I went home at quitting time to come in the next morning with that task as a must do first thing today.
I try to maintain a healthy work life balance by leaving my work at home. No checking emails or taking calls after hours. This way I’m in the moment at home with my family!
I no longer work outside of the home, but have a hard time balancing and taking time out for me.
I keep them separate. When I leave work for the day, that is it. I will not do work again until the next day.
I try to turn off work when I walk in the front door. Also no working on the weekend.
I use all the PTO allowed per year by my work and I make sure to exercises every single morning before work.
Don’t stress over work and bring home that stress. Learn to take as much time off work a you can, so that you can take vacations and spend quality time with loved ones.
I am still looking for a good life/work balance as I am often stressed and have too many things to do. Need to try and schedule days for me but it is hard when there is a family event almost every weekend.
My husband helps me and watches our daughter in the evening so I can go for a run before putting her to sleep.
I make sure to schedule time to exercise, otherwise it won’t happen! 🙂
I do the bookkeeping for my husband’s business – from home. Lol…so it’s always looming over me. What I find most difficult is just doing some work every day so that I won’t fall behind – it’s so easy to put the books off.
I always gotta make time for just myself!
I maintain a healthy work-life balance by unplugging/turning off my work computer and phone after 6pm. In the evening, I park my butt on the couch for at least an hour to watch TV!
I work nights as an LNA in a nursing home. Being balanced at work is almost impossible!
I haven’t figured that one out yet.
Currently unemployed for
I don’t put in extra work hours so I’m home for dinner.
I maintain a healthy work life balance by taking time off to unwind.
I try to leave work and stress at the office when I walk out the door.
I make sure I eat before i start work and sneak a snack in every 3 hours
When I’ve had a rough day I always stop and wash my hands before leaving the office. It reminds me to leave it all at work.
I try to unplug in the evening unless for entertainment! And I stop checking my e-mail.
Great habits to start. Timeblocking for me in the schools is really valuable, as I have to make sure I can get it all done!
I maintain a healthy work-life balance by not bringing my work home with me. I also refrain from checking work e-mails at home.
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
When I leave work, the work stays there til I get back the next day
I maintain a healthy work life balance by keeping my work life and home separate. I do not talk about work at home
Healthy work and life balance is knowing that family is ALWAYS first. I’m a teacher and my career is far more than a job to me and I do create a caring, loving environment in my class (to the point where my students are my second family) but I always know that my daughter and my husband at home is number 1! I could have never gotten to this point in my life without them and they’re always first and foremost!!
I try to focus on work while I am there and get as much done as possible. Then when I am home, my focus is my family and home.
To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I have found that balance. I am enjoying reading the comments, and looking for new ideas.
I eat healthy along with doing Yoga to de-tune and de-stress.
I try to maintain a healthy balance by planning my time.
I maintain a healthy work-life balance by scheduling an hour of “me” time out of my busy daily routine!
I MAINTAIN A HEALTHY BALANCE BY LEAVING WORK AT WORK.
Great blog and I love the comment tips! Working from home, homeschooling and doing graphics for an indy pro wrestling company and helping them run their buisness is ALOT of time online! ANd I do struggle sometimes with balancing my time and making sure to take breaks. I give myself time limits and breaks. I try to keep a schedule so I don’t overdo with online work!
Try to make time for it all.
I relax on the weekends.
It’s REALLY hard to get a balance for us. We work from home on our own business and it’s constant. We are always working but it’s something we love so it makes it all worth it!
I work from home, so it’s really important that I separate the two. When I’m working I forget about home and when I’m done working I forget about work.
I get a ride to and from work. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com. Thank you.
I maintain a healthy balance by leaving my work at work and never bringing it home.
I work with disabled people and I want them to be able to call me in an “emergency”, but sometimes what they consider an emergency doesn’t justify their call to me, in my opinion. So I had to just be direct with them and told them I[m no longer responding to messages that aren’t real emergencies when I am off work.
I make a list and prioritize
I leave work at the office.
I spend all of my free time with friends and family. I also do not bring my day at work home with me.
Meditation seems to make my life’s balance more on cue.
I am a Stay at Home mom which is very busy as well and I try to get some me time in when I can.