7 Habits of Parents Who Leave Office on Time

Being a working parent is tough. Your mind tells you to focus on the work at hand, but your heart wants to be at home with your child. You fear that your boss or your colleagues will question your commitment to the job, or you may just feel guilty that you can’t put in longer hours like you used to.

Thankfully, there is a way you can actually manage both work and home life – it just might take a little practice. Here are some things you can try to be more efficient at work so you can make it home in time to spend some quality time with your little ones:

1. Get your boss and colleagues on board

It’s important to communicate with your boss and team about your need to leave on time each day. Let them know that you’re still committed to your job even though you’ve now got parental responsibilities, and that you’ll get all your work done during office hours. You could also let them know that if they need your help with anything, you’d prefer if they could ask you earlier in the day than closer to knock-off time so you’re not suddenly scrambling to finish everything in time.

2. Start the day right

Look at the tasks you need to complete by the end of that day and get started on the most important ones while your mind is still fresh and alert. Scan through your inbox and only reply to emails that are relevant to your day’s tasks, and save the rest for later.

3. Steer clear of social networks

It’s tempting to want to take a quick peek to see what everyone on your social network has been up to since you last checked, but don’t do it! What you tell yourself will be a two-minute scroll through your Facebook wall could end up being half an hour as you click on interesting news articles or look through your friend’s amazing holiday photos. If you check your social networks two or three times a day, you could lose precious hours that could be better spent completing your work.

4. Slim down your lunchtime

You don’t have to skip lunch completely, but maybe you could save time by packing your lunch from home or asking a friend to help you buy lunch back to the office. Shortening your lunch break by just 15 minutes a day would add on more than an hour to your work week.

5. Delegate appropriately

You don’t have to take on every task to ‘make up’ for the fact you leave on time each day. Look at each task or project you’ve been asked to do and make sure that it’s really within your job scope before accepting it. If you need help with a task, don’t feel guilty about asking someone. Just be sure to acknowledge their help and return the favour as soon as you can.

6. Manage your meetings

Block out the last hour of each day in your calendar so that others won’t schedule meetings with you. Make sure that the meetings you schedule have clear agendas and remind the attendees that meetings start and end promptly. While meetings are important, they can eat up huge chunks of your day if they’re not managed properly. Too often people tend to have ‘rubber time’ when it comes to meetings, causing them to overrun.

7. Tie up loose ends

Use the last hour of your day to make sure all your tasks are complete and that no emails are left in your outbox. Write up your to-do list for the next day while your mind is still in work-mode. This way you’ll be ready to go from the moment you settle down at your desk the next morning.

There you have it.

Seven easy ways to increase your productivity and get you home to your children on time. Any one of these tips can really make a difference to your work day, so just pick one and give it a go!