End Your Day by Doing These 5 Things to Increase Productivity

Let’s be honest right from the start; being productive all day can be overwhelming, especially if you’re a 9-5 person or an entrepreneur. By 4:45 p.m., you are exhausted, flat, and all your energy has been consumed by a slew of meetings, getting tasks done, fighting distractions and whatnot. Even the best of us cannot wait for the hour hand to hit 5 so we can pack up and skedaddle.

Are you looking to squeeze out a little more productivity at the end of a busy workday? Try doing the following 5 things to spruce up your productivity at the end of your day. Even better, you can leverage these tricks to take your home life to a whole new and exciting level as well.

1. End Your Day by Responding to as Many Emails and Phone Calls as Possible

The first thing you need to do to bring your day to a productive close is to answer as many phone calls and emails as possible in the last 30 minutes. The thing is that most of the important return calls and emails hit your inbox during the last few hours of the day. By the actual end of the day, you will have gotten almost all of the most crucial messages. This will save you from having a headache the next day.

Ideally, you should be able to respond to about 80% of important email messages in half an hour. This way, you will proficiently cut down tomorrow’s workload by a massive margin. The truth is, email backlog is one of the biggest morning time-wasters, and taking care of it before leaving work will count towards enhancing your workday productivity.

2. Turn Off Your Devices, Including Your Computer

Once you’re done with emails, you should turn off your computer, smartphone, and other devices. This way, you’ll keep off emails and social media so you can focus on creating a compelling schedule for the next day and take notes accordingly. Don’t forget to kill off 50+ open browser tabs. The bottom line is to start fresh and clean the next day.

3. Declutter Your Mind

Often called the brain dump, this process involves jotting down everything that’s racing in the back of your mind. That means family to-dos, personal to-dos, and even work task list. It doesn’t have to be organized; the goal of brain dumb is to declutter your mind. Remember achieving productivity is less about time-saving methods and more about mental clarity and control.

4. Get a Headstart: Plan Your Next Day

It’s important to hack your to-do list, schedule, meetings, and so forth before the day starts. Working on your next-day plan is much akin to getting the engine warm before driving away. After all, you don’t want to spend your most productive hours planning the day.

5. Clean and Tidy-up Your Workspace

Tidying up and cleaning your workspace is a hack that can do wonders for your productivity. Your office is an ‘environmental factor’ that affects the way your work and think.