How do you know you’re done for the day?
This post originally appeared onLinkedIn.
I used to fall asleep at my computerthankfully it was in my home office.
Work until you might’t was my motto.
I believe that if we change our day, we can ultimately change our lives.
“You’ll get plenty of sleep when you’re dead”
“Sleep is for suckers.”
“No one looks back on their life and remembers the nights they had plenty of sleep.”
At the time I didn’t feel successful, but I made up my own quote anyway.
“Dream, but don’t sleep.”
Every day was a race to make a run at complete my entire to do list.
And every day I failed.
I didn’t know what enough was or what “finished” meant as a professional.
I didn’t know how much work it was okay to do beforecalling it a day and relaxing.
Productivity divided by time is how you measure efficiency.
Today’s blue collar workers know what finished looks like each day.
A janitor goes home when the building is clean.
A plumber goes home when the leak is fixed.
An electrician goes home when the light switch finally works.
The cable guy goes home after doing five installations.
For today’s white collar and knowledge workers, that isn’t the case.
And to-do lists are never-ending.
They say, “If you want something done, give it to the busiest person.”
On top of that, technology allows work to follow us home.
workis with us too.
Nor is it something we do for 40+ hours per work.
Work is the process of moving an individual or organization from point A to point B.
There is nothing more demotivating at the start of a project than not knowing what point B is.
I define what “done” will be first at 8AM and then redefine it after lunch.
Assuming that I want to leave by 5PM.
I determine how much time I actually have to work.
I look at the punch in of work I have to do.
Given that, I definedonebased what I believe I can actually do in that time.
Work during busy season looks completely different than work during the “off-season.”
During the busy season, there are deadlines, pressure, and increased loads.
Here are four ways you could define your finish line.
They are very strategic aboutmanaging the energyof their star players.
They do just enough to win that quarter, that half, that game, that day.
To counter that, I just use a time-based end point.
It doesn’t matter how long it takes you, as long as you get the work done.
Some companies have policies that support this.
It’s called R.O.W.E.
(Result Only Work Environment).
I believe in “A fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.”
We as employees have been unnecessarily overworking ourselves by not defining what done means each day.
"
A little work, a little sleep, a little love, and it’s all over."
- Mary Roberts Rineheart
Wishing you more happy hours.
How To Leave Work Guilt-Free & On-Time| LinkedIn
Jullien Gordonis a happiness hacker.
There is a more direct route to happiness than we’re told to take.
“More Happy Hours” is his motto.
The reason we hack is to be happier.
Check him out if you want to hack happiness.
Image adapted fromLanaNandpling(Shutterstock).
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