There is a common misconception about working long, late hours. We tend to assume the employees who burn the midnight oil are working hard and being productive. Actually, the opposite is often true. Working late into the evening is probably a sign that you were not productive or wise with your time during office hours.
Beyond that, working late is not enjoyable. Most people want to get home for family time, personal fitness time, or simply some downtime. All of that is vital for maintaining a sense of balance.
The question is, how can you stop working those late hours and leave on time? How do you actually get out the door between 5 and 6 each afternoon? Here are a few practical tips.
Schedule the Small Stuff
Many executives complete their big tasks promptly. Then they get caught up answering emails, checking messages, and handling other small items. That is what actually keeps them in the office later than they would like.
A simple solution is scheduling a block of time in the morning for all your small stuff. Set aside 30 minutes on your daily calendar for emails and administration. A second small-stuff block on your afternoon calendar may also help.
Tweak Your Deadlines
Deadlines and structure force us to focus our efforts and juggle our priorities. Use that to your advantage by setting some artificial deadlines for yourself. It is a simple thing to do. If a big report is due Wednesday, put it in your calendar as a Tuesday deadline instead.
Why? Something unexpected might come up, and you may not finish by Tuesday afternoon as intended. That is no big deal, because you have built in some flexibility. You do not have to stay late. You still have a whole other day at your disposal.
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Set a Reminder
One more simple solution: set a reminder on your phone to go off 30 minutes before the end of each work day. This prevents you from losing track of time. When that reminder goes off, start gathering your things, shut down your computer, and make your exit.
"Working late is rarely a sign of dedication. More often, it is a sign that the hours during the day were not used as well as they could have been."
These are simple tips, but they are genuinely useful for leaving on time and getting home at a reasonable hour each day. Always leaving the office on time is less about willpower. It is more about the small structural habits that protect the end of your day. To build stronger habits across your team, explore the four time traps every leader must avoid. Or dig deeper into time management vs. attention management.
About Dr. Rick Goodman, CSP
Dr. Rick Goodman is a Certified Speaking Professional and six-time Global Gurus Top 30 Leadership Expert. He is also the author of five books, including the Amazon number one bestseller The Solutions Oriented Leader. He has delivered more than 2,000 programs across all 50 states and 32 countries, helping leaders build the time and attention habits that create real balance.
His keynote programs and executive coaching engagements are customized and immediately actionable.
Continue Building Stronger Time and Focus Habits
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- Where Are Your Time Management Blind Spots?
- Time Management vs. Attention Management
- Self-Care and Productivity for Leaders
- Executive Coaching Services
Build the Habits That Get You Home on Time
Dr. Rick Goodman is a Certified Speaking Professional ranked among the Top 30 Global Leadership Gurus. His keynote programs and executive coaching help leaders build the daily habits that protect both performance and personal balance.
Leaving Work on Time: Questions Leaders Ask Most
Common Questions About Building Habits That Stick
If your question is not answered below, call us at 1-954-218-5325 or email rick@rickgoodman.com.
Working late is often a sign that the hours during the actual workday were not used efficiently, not a sign of dedication or productivity. When small tasks like emails and administrative work bleed into the day unchecked, focused work gets pushed later and later, creating the illusion of a heavy workload rather than a poorly structured one.
Setting aside a dedicated block of time, such as 30 minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon, for emails and administrative work prevents those small items from expanding to fill the entire day. Without a scheduled block, small tasks tend to interrupt focused work continuously and push it later into the evening.
Setting an internal deadline a day ahead of the actual deadline builds in flexibility for the unexpected. If something disrupts the schedule and the artificial deadline is missed, there is still a full day of buffer before the real deadline arrives, which removes the pressure to stay late to compensate.
A reminder set 30 minutes before the end of the workday interrupts the tendency to lose track of time during focused work. When the reminder goes off, it signals the start of wrap-up tasks such as gathering belongings and shutting down the computer, which makes leaving on time a scheduled action rather than something that has to be remembered.
No. Leaving on time consistently depends far more on small structural habits, such as scheduling small tasks and setting internal deadlines, than on willpower alone. Willpower is a limited resource that depletes throughout the day, while structural habits protect the end of the day automatically regardless of how much willpower remains.
Leaving on time is one visible outcome of stronger time and attention management overall. Leaders who fall into common time traps or struggle to distinguish time management from attention management often find those same gaps show up as consistently late departures, since both issues stem from unstructured use of the workday.
Dr. Rick Goodman delivers keynote programs and executive coaching engagements that help leaders build the daily time and attention habits that create real balance, including practical frameworks for avoiding time traps and protecting focused work during the day. To start the conversation, visit the booking calendar or call 1-954-218-5325.