How to finish your day on a right note and making a difference in the level of stress you take home with you.

The end of the day tends to be accompanied by frantic trying to get all your outstanding tasks done before you rush out the door, happy to have survived another day in the workplace.

But productivity experts say that how you end your day determines your success for how you begin the following day. Whether you’re a business owner, leading a team or in a team, it is important to close and start each day in the right frame of mind.

Big tasks

Everyone has their peak productivity moment during the day and their low energy hours. For some people, they are most energetic early in the morning and for others mid-morning or early afternoon works better. However, if you have put in a full days’ work, it is unlikely that you will have the energy or mental capacity to make decisions at 5 pm, unless you have had a break to recharge. Therefore, avoid tackling large tasks or making big decisions at the end of a working day if you can help it.

Conversations

Sometimes we promise to get back to someone about a task, a response or some other aspect of a request. If the target was by the end of the day and you have not got round to it, be polite and send an email letting the recipient know that you haven’t forgot the feedback or haven’t been able to craft a response but you will revert within a reasonable time. This is proactive and also polite, showing the other person you have respect for their time.

Planning

Use the last 15 minutes of your day to review your day’s progress, plan your important tasks for the next day and clear up the clutter in readiness for the next morning. Walking up to your workstation in the morning to find paper and files strewn all over will do nothing to make you excited about sitting and focusing on your tasks. Give yourself some credit for what you accomplished during the day. Leave some flexibility in your next days’ schedule should something unexpected come up.