Your day at the office has been spent in meetings, then you battle rush hour traffic to get home. On the front porch, your smiling spouse greets you with “How was your day, dear?” Familiar? No, didn’t think so.
Truth is, that little picture is miles from reality for many of us. Either we’ve no commute, attend very few meetings, or have no spouse on the doorstep (or all of the above). No matter, I reckon the question still needs to be asked, even if we ask it of ourselves: “How was your day?”
Taking a few moments at the end of each day to reflect is a powerful way to close the workspace and enable some distance. This not only allows us to unwind, it primes us for the day ahead.
In my experience, if we don’t take a few moments to review our day, we risk leaving our thinking dominated by the most outstanding event. These aren’t necessarily the most positive or valuable thoughts to hold onto. In fact they’re often the very things that will wake us in the early hours.
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Before closing down this evening, ask yourself:
“What went well today?”
“What didn’t go so well? Why?”
“What didn’t I get done that needs doing tomorrow?”
Then “What’s for dinner?” and it’s time to hit the off button.
Have you got some other end of day actions to share? Spill the beans.