Spend the last 15 minutes of your work day productively with these steps

Do you find yourself counting down the minutes until you can leave work, or are you deep in work all the way?

If you’ve answered yes to either, you might want to evaluate how spend the last few minutes at work because how you finish the day is so important. It sets the stage for the next day and can also have an impact on the opinion your colleagues have of you.

Here are some tasks to help you end each day on the right note. You don’t have to tackle all of them on a daily basis, but when done frequently, you’re likely to feel more productive and in control of your work life.

1. Review your to-do list

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Check off anything you’ve accomplished during the day. If there’s anything left on your mind, so you don’t have to worry that you’ll forget.  

Certain tasks on your to-do list may also need to be reprioritised, depending on the day’s developments. Ensuring your to-do list is updated means that you can zoom in on all the tasks at hand easily when you return to work the next day.

2. Tidy up your desk

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Imagine arriving to work the next day confronted with documents strewn all over your desk, pens with their caps off and candy wrappers just lying around. A messy workspace adds stress by inhibiting productivity and the research shows that 50% of time at work is wasted looking for items. In addition, a messy workspace gives off the impression that you are less efficient and capable.

At the end of each day, spend some time putting things aside, so that you have closure when you leave and can return to an inspiring space the following day. Try the following:

Store stationery in drawers so your mind is not inundated with visual stimuli, which adds stress.

Create a pending folder to clear up your work space and allow you easy access to pending projects.

Don’t let documents pile up. Throw anything that you don’t need as soon as you can and store the rest in a proper place.

3. Get your inbox down to zero

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You may not have a chance to review all your e-mail earlier in the day, but before leaving, attempt to respond to e-mail, delete junk mail, and organise others into folders to prevent clutter from building up in your inbox. You don’t want to reach a point where you have to spend precious hours or days to clear it up.

4. Tackle the mess on your desktop

Once you’re done with your e-mail, take a look at an often overlooked spot - the desktop. Like most people, you probably save downloaded files to your desktop so you can get to them easily. At the end of the day, take a look everything on your desktop and sort them into appropriate folders.

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5. Wrap up small tasks

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You won’t want to start on big projects at the end of the day because they require more focus, but you can use this time to complete small administrative tasks that you will be tempted to put off when you’re swamped.

6. Reflect on your achievements

If you start each day with purpose, you would have made achievements throughout the day. Start a journal noting these achievements. This list will help motivate you to do your best at work.

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7. Take time to say goodbye

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Far too often, we enter the office and leave without saying hello or goodbye. Acknowledging someone else’s presence requires very little effort and you can build rapport with your colleagues with this small act.

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