How to End Your Work Day (And Actually Stop Working) 

Tip for combining the hard shut-off time and ending on a high note: Schedule a call with a friend (doesn't have to be the same friend every day) and tell them your favorite moment of the day. It helps you reflect on your own day, and encourages your friend to do the same. After the call: you're good to go! :) Thanks, Naomi. I always look forward to your videos!

In the vein of cleaning up, I have a shutdown ritual that is also very calming and relaxing (alt least for me). I start my day by making a pot of French press coffee. At the end of the day, after I’ve gone through my ToDoIst-list of tasks and checked what’s on the schedule for the next day, I clean the coffee pot. I find it really calming, and it’s a ritual that is very simple: I have to take the pot apart, clean the parts and put it all back together. Then it goes on the shelf, so it’s ready for the next day. That way it’s clean and ready for the next day. It’s a physical activity to counter all the digital workflows of the day, and I find that it’s a really nice bookend ritual for me. And while in the tea kitchen I often get to exchange a few words about this and that with my colleagues.

Great video, one thing that Cal Newport is adding is at the end when he shuts his computer he actually says it loud: “shutdown complete” ! That helps to wire the brain to stop thinking about work and make this phase shift 🎉

Shut down routine: I'm a visual person, it triggers something, so I use any app (it can be todoist, but there is one called Pushover Notifications) that shows me a notification with a photo of something that reminds me a good time to stop, example: A picture of my dog may remind me to go and take a walk with him, a photo of an ice cream or a tv show I want to watch. The important thing is to have a picture that will deliver that "visual stimulation" and remind you that there is more that just work.

Pouring a drink works for me 🤣

Thank you so much for sharing these helpful tips! I have struggled for many, many years to leave work on time, and it got especially worse during the pandemic. It just always seems that there is one more request or email to react to, and this has resulted in actual dreams about unresolved tasks at work! You could say I am in recovery. 😂 One thing that I have been trying to do in the last few months is that if I have a email that I simply can't finish that day, I will let the sender know that I received their request, and I will get to it next day, week, etc. This way they know I am not ignoring them (feedback that I used to received), but have put it on my radar. Can't wait to try out these steps!

I don't currently have a planned shutdown ritual, but I am going to try to get one in place. I think it will help a lot. As for a firm shutdown time- get a dog! LOL Mine show up at my desk at dinner time and I then know it's time to quit and feed the pups!

This was very helpful. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing these ideas - I can’t wait to try these and figure out how to adapt as I often don’t finish my day at a desk nor in a consistent location. It might be useful for me to put my “shutdown ritual” on my calendar for sometime in my afternoon and do most of it and literally end my day with a 5 minute clean up and end on a high note.

Thank you so much for this. I work at home and shutting down work and chilling with my family has become so hard. Thank you for giving me a way to address this. So needed.

Thank you for very useful information!

I love ToDoist and have recommended it to many other teachers. Your video is extremely helpful to teachers as many not only work past contract time, but also take work home on a regular basis. The days I can leave on time (or close), feel so freeing to me! Thanks for great content.

So good! Love this shut down ritual. I do some of these but will add more, especially the end on a high note. Thank you!

Thank you so much for these suggestions! Much much good for thought! I would try as a baby step to express the gratitude for the things done during the working day 🎉

Naomi brings the work & productivity therapy that is needed with the Todoist tool. Thanks!

Hi Naomi, I absolutely enjoyed your presentation on how to end your workday. It was very educational. Have you ever done one on how to start your workday? Thank you.

You always have helpful tips! Thank you!

I absolutely resonate with this. Ending the day properly sets the foundation for a great start the next day. This pairs well with your other videos to make tweaks that suits specific work conditions like you mentioned.

I’m from Iraq I love Todoist ❤

Super helpful, thank you! So much resonance for me here

Very helpful info! Thanks :)

Thanks for the video, and I'm going to be sharing this with a few folks that have mentioned to me that they have a hard time shutting down.

Thanks for the tips!

Very glad to see a new video, Naomi. I really enjoyed your videos as you are very gifted. Just love your down-to-earth nature. Keep it up and hope to see many more of your videos. Thanks!

You guys are amazing! Keep making the world a better place

My extra tip for disconnecting is simple: Look forward other activities that make you feel accomplished and schedule them right after the end of your workday :) Thanks for your great tips, Naomi!

This video is useful. Thank you.

Thank you, Naomi! Not only will this help me END my work day positively, but it will help me START it more mindfully too. I'm sure this is exactly what I need to reduce overwhelm, and open loops!! ❤

Thank you very interesting!🤗

Great summary! I don’t have a good shutdown routine and have some good take away ideas from this video, thank you!

Great video!

I love this, I'm going to try it!

I Love Todoist , this was a great video im gonna use this daily in my work. Thanks!

Gracias por compartir.

Many thanks for the video and the tips! I was able to recognise 90% of myself and will therefore try to implement the steps. One after the other.

You guys are great. I haven't implemented a shut down work-day yet. I will give it a try. Thank you

This is a good reminder for me. I struggle with shutting down in an orderly fashion, because my days ends at different times depending on my client schedule, so a routine has been hard to establish. I definitely need to set aside a closedown ritual period as part of my daily planning, and will try these steps. Thanks!

Thank you, Naomi! This is very relevant to me, given my work at home as a developer

Thank you! What really helps me wind down is physically stepping away from my workspace. If I've been working from home, I like to go out for a walk.

Super helpful!

great video, I like the day shutdown ritual list :)

3 years ago I read my first Cal Newport book (digital minimalism), now this is one of the many instances I stumble across his 'deep work' . I just got ready to power up my Todoist workflow and read / watch several guides, for example on the GTD flow ! Thanks for all the inspiration! I would love to get the free year of Todoist pro to finish my CS studies and start my career 😊

I shared this wonderful video with my Best Self Coaching Community, who represents a collection of business owners who are looking to level up in the way their businesses serve their lives. I am certain it will be a game-changer for many of them. 👍🏽❤

Thanks Naomi for those great tips! I use a similar shutdown procedure which includes: 1. Clean up all ongoing work, closing down tabs and apps 2. Review tasks that I did not complete and reschedule them identifying priorities 3. Review my to do list 4. Praise myself for being productive I love the bloopers at the end 🙂

It felt like she was talking to me! Adding this to my habits everyday, am thinking of allotting time for examen at the end of the day so I will actually stop working and go back to what transpired the whole day!❤

thank you so much for your super useful content :-)

I feel like Naomi is turning into a bit of a mind reader. Lately, I've been feeling extremely overwhelmed with too many things to do and constantly getting distracted. These videos have been really helpful. On a different note, I think Todoist should consider starting a productivity coaching program. It would be beneficial for many (or just me!)

Great tips, I'm currently reading Deep Work!

Every day, I end work with a 10-minute creative burst. It can be just writing whatever pops into my head or even just watch last night games highlights (even when I watched it live). It's amazing how those few minutes really help me switch off and get into relaxation mode for the evening.

Hi Naomi: Here are my key tasks I focus on, in my shutdown ritual: * Review Tasks Completed: Reflect on the day's accomplishments and check off completed tasks. * Plan for tomorrow: Set priorities and tasks for the next day to hit the ground running, including those with the tag "communications" (m@ils, phone calls and so on) * Clear my Inbox: Respond (and delete) emails and messages. Sometimes I take advantages of programming m@ils. * Reflect & Relax: Take several moments (very often sadly) to relax and mentally disconnect from work. Thanks for your great tips!

As a software developer, we often work together on a task. At the end of the working day, I like to talk about the progress we've made that day, how we can best continue the next day, and I like to finish with a bit of small talk (what's on the agenda after work, family, sport, etc.). Then you can go into the evening a little more relaxed

Thank you for this video. It's inspiring. Parkinson's Law particularly intrigued me. I just read about it today from another source, and I don't think it's a coincidence. I will be exploring it further. Greetings from Poland.

I end my day having a good talk with myself of when I can can realistically get the tasks I didn't get to done and move the due dates. I have scheduled focus time so maybe I can make it priority then, but maybe not on a crazy meeting day. It helps me know I have time in my cal scheduled to tackle them.

What I also find helful is to find a task in the following morning that you like to do. This helps me to start the day without feeling the stress of the start of the work day.

Another excellent and very down to earth video from Naomi, a big thank you! These end of day rituals are excellent and certainly doable. We have a small but powerful end of day ritual which I've found works really well. As most of the team and working remotely in various different environments, a 10 - 15 minute Teams meeting around 5pm finish time with glass in hand, bubbles or wine. We share what tasks we've completed for the day and their order of important. What tasks we didn't get finished and finally tasks that didn't get started. Finally, the next days agenda and each individuals tasks list. I'm a big fan of "Eat The Frog" productivity method and found it works really well. Our end of day ritual is working well, the team love it and it signals we're finished for the day, sign off, relax and enjoy your evening. - Hope this gives you a couple of ideas as well. 😀

Haha! I loved watching the bloopers!

Great video as always. My tip would be to share your daily close-down deadline with your colleagues and, importantly, your boss. That way you stand a better chance of avoiding the dreaded “Oh, before you go, shall we have a catch-up on progress on the XYZ project? You can spare the time, can’t you … ?” 😕

I'm a software developer and the main one for me is to write down everything that's in my head about the task I'm working on so I'm not having to hold it in my head. It's tricky though as the urge to just continue working as it'll be easier than finish that write down where I am is there! And it can be tricky to articulate what's in my mind in words, can some times help bring a new perspective or solution to a problem though.

Creating tasks on a calendar and limiting them helps a lot. I often work on one project out of many, just because I am passionate about the task. time blocking allows me to “remember” about other projects.

Thanks for sharing. Two things I would add for Ending the Work-day: 1. Virtual clean up along with Physical desk clean up your mentioned - Inbox ZEROED or even if it's not ZERO, scan through to ensure nothing important is missed out. 2. Exercise - This is one of the best ways to transition out of work...clears the mind and gives an energy boost for the rest of the day.

Thanks! This will help me get restarted - Staring at a screen all day, accomplishing nothing!

I use Carl Pullein's method. I try to clean my inbox daily and move it to this week, next week etc. I created extra boards in my inbox for watch later, blog ideas etc.

very good ideas for SHUTTING DOWN 👍🏻

Naomi - I like all of your videos, but the last few have been exceptional. First it is helpful for us to see that a true professional organization and planner still sometimes has struggles completing things on time. It makes me feel like a loser sometimes to carry over so many projects and are all in various stages of completion. I found recently doing a combination of 3 of your suggestions works great - 1. your idea of eating the frog first, combined with will it make a big difference and sense of accomplishment - that is usually a bull-frog! 2. Trying to actually complete things in one setting rather than carry over perpetually, and then 3. this one recognizing the accomplishment of the day and planning the next one for tomorrow - all combine for a triple combination. I know some advocate doing a little each day on a lot of projects, but to me that makes me have more and more and feeling less accomplished. I like really completing things. It is sometimes surprising to see what it really takes to truly complete something, but it is very satisfying. Thanks for all you do to help us get better!

I like to schedule 3 things to do and feel like if I complete these 3 things, I have been successful. I'm not sure why 3 is my number, but it seems doable.

My workdays never end ... but they should!

Thanks for the tips. My biggest struggle is quitting at the end of the day. I work at home and having the computer there feels like there's always something more I can do. Just a few minutes becomes a few hours.

I like to give myself a mini-reward each day like a snack or favorite TV episode. Though I still feel guilty by it somehow.

how do I get this weekly time-blockable view of the week for a given project? I can see a 3-day window for my android app, but not on MacOS

Is the Week View of the Calendar a sneak peek or am I just too dumb to figure out how to set it up? 😁

Why there is no Calender View on ipad and iphones 😢😢😢😢???