End of Work Day Ritual Ideas
End of work day rituals can be very important to switch from professional to personal life. When you get in the habit of doing these you are less likely to take your work home with you.
- Write a To do list in your planner for next day – things bothering you, uncompleted tasks, issues to address
- Don’t make big decisions at the end of the day
- If someone was expecting to hear from you and didn’t – find them and close the conversation out
- Tidy up your office and your desk
- Ring a bell (symbolic end of day) – gives you auditory cue to change frame of mind
- Write down something nagging at you from the day and put it in a basket in your office, symbolically leaving it there – at the end of the week review them (nice end of week ritual)
- Close the door to your office
- Have a phrase you say at end of the workday – e.g. “I did the best I could today”
- Start your wind down 15 minutes before you leave – do not look at email in that time unless you are expecting something urgent
- Write down things you need to do for your home/personal life when you leave work in your TN
- Change your clothes/shower when you get home to switch in to personal life mode