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It’s necessary on occasion to put in more hours at work. But consistently working 50- and 60-hour weeks may be more of a habit than a necessity. A simple solution: Recondition yourself to work on a 40-hour week. Here’s how to start:
• Commit to 40 hours a week for the next three to six months.
• Start by simply leaving the workplace on time one or two days a week.
• Leave the work behind.
• If you can’t manage to leave work on time, then at least leave your briefcase and work papers at the office.
• Schedule weekend activities.
• Make yourself unavailable to work on the weekends by filling them with other activities.
Evaluate your work day:
• Go through your previous week’s schedule and identify tasks, projects and meetings that were unproductive. Then start eliminating the time-wasters. You’ll find that you’ll get as much done in a 40-hour week as in a 50-hour week.
• Guard your E-mail and voicemail.
• Don’t waste time by checking them more than twice a day. Be selective about who gets your cell-phone number and E-mail address. Alert people not to send you jokes and feel-good stories—and if you get them, delete them before you even read them.
Source: First Draft
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