How to Properly End Your Workday to Set Yourself Up for a Better Tomorrow

1. Check in with Your Colleagues

Briefly connect with your employees or co-workers to discuss the status of any projects they’re working on. Take the opportunity to discuss and confirm deadlines, and make sure everyone is on the same page.

2. Review What You Accomplished

After you’ve taken stock of your team’s progress, take a minute or two to reflect on the day. Think about what happened, what was accomplished and what you wish was accomplished. If you realize you could have handled a situation with a customer or employee better, visualize how you can improve next time. If you were satisfied with the day, give yourself (and potentially your employees) a pat on the back. Assessing how the day transpired can help you improve in the future. Reviewing what was and was not accomplished can also help you create a to-do list for the next day, which brings us to the third item in a simple work shutdown routine.

3. Make a To-Do List

Use a pen and paper, a note-taking app or a Word document to jot down what you need to do the next day. Try to order the list with the most important or difficult items first. Doing them right away helps you feel focused and accomplished, which makes it easier to complete future tasks. Creating a list helps you get everything out of your head so you can mentally let go. It also helps you prioritize what needs to be done so you can hit the ground running when you arrive at work, rather than reassessing where you were and what you were working on the night before. The next day, use the list to plan your schedule and stay on track.

4. Clean Up Your Physical Workspace

Lastly, before you go, tidy your desk by filing papers, throwing away trash, and completing time sheets and other lingering paperwork. Studies show that a cluttered, disorganized environment impairs our ability to focus, restricts our capacity to process information and ultimately keeps us from doing our best work. An organized, clean workspace reduces distractions and helps you easily find what you’re looking for, including the to-do list you just created. Plus, it’s nice to start the next day with a literally clean slate.

Once you’ve completed your work shutdown routine, you can turn off the lights and go home knowing you finished the day in a good place and set yourself up for a successful tomorrow.