How to Be More Productive After Work
In United States, the typical work week is five days long. On those five days on average we spend 8 hours per day at work, about 2 hours per day commuting to and from work. Over the course of a typical work week we will spend and on average we spend 40 hours per week at work. Add another 10 hours per week for a commuting. We should be sleeping 40 hours for sleep. That is over 90 hours or 75% of our week occupied before it even got started.
| Total Number of Hours in a Work Week | 120 |
| Work Time | 40 |
| Commute Time | 10 |
| Sleep Time | 40 |
| “Free Time” | 30 |
How to be more productive After Work?
There are seven steps you can take to be more productive after work:
- Limit Time on Social Media
- Watch Less Television
- Set long- & short-term goals
- Join a Team or Club
- Take a Class
- Plan Your Week in Advance
- Create a relaxing Bedtime Routine
To Be More Productive After Work: Limit Social Media & Television and Do this Instead
By far two of the easiest traps to fall in to after work are scrolling social media & television. It is so easy to come home after a long day at work and pull out our phone or turn on the television. According to Statista, people spend over 2 hours per day per on social media. According to Nielsen in America people spend over 5 hours per day watching TV! A lot of Americans spend a lot of their free time after work on social media and watching television.
Instead of mindlessly watching TV or scrolling searching social media. Set up a specific amount of time during the day to watch TV & scroll through Social Media. Give yourself about 20 minutes to scroll social media. Choose one or two shows that you want to watch each night. Once you’ve maxed out TURN THE TV OFF & PUT THE PHONE DOWN! You will find that there is much more time in the evenings to choose how you will be more productive.
To be More Productive after work, Set Goals and work toward them
Goals can help you stay focused when you might otherwise get distracted or simply choose to do nothing. Having goals allows you to make the best use of your time available after work.
To be more Productive After Work consider Family Time
This can be spending more time at home with your family or checking in with friends on a video conference.
To be more productive after work set Health and Fitness Goals
Maintaining or improving your health is important to keep up with the pace of life that can sometimes be hectic. Health and fitness goals can include working out more often, meditating, yoga,
To be more Productive After Work consider Financial Goals
To be more Productive After Work consider Personal Development
Take a Class, Join a Club, or Join a Team
Taking a class or joining a club are excellent ways to be productive in the evening and to help you reach your goals. You may have excellent intentions of working out, but it is easy to come home lay on the couch and put it off until tomorrow.
I started taking a spinning class and a Zumba class after work and found was more motivated to go to the classes, than I was to go to the gym to walk on the treadmill. I got used to seeing familiar faces and when I missed a class, they would check in at the next class. Having a group of people you enjoy spending time with and are able to check in with helps to keep you motivated and on track to reach your goals.
Plan Your Week in Advance
Planning your week in advance will help you be more productive after work. Having a high-level view of the times available during the week allows you to fill in the gap. If your daughter has a playoff game on Wednesday evening, your son has a performance on Thursday evening, and you have tickets to a movie premier on Tuesday evening your week will be busy. Knowing in advance that your most of your weekday evenings will be busy, you can do some prep on the weekend to make it run more smoothly. I previously wrote a post about weekly planning if you would like to learn more about Weekly Planning.
Appointments
Meal Planning
Meal planning will drastically improve your productivity after work. Have you ever opened the fridge to stare at a refrigerator full of food, and come to the conclusion that there is nothing to eat. I recently wrote a post about how to start meal planning Meal Planning a Simple Approach for Beginners.
Errands
Self-Care & Relaxation
All days eventually end the same way, with going to bed. It is important to be intentionally about a bed time routine. A bed time routine can be as little as 15-20 minutes to take a quick shower and change into a night gown. If you find you have more time at the end of the day, you can use it to journal, pray, maybe incorporate a skin care routine. Choose a time when all activities end and you start to unwind for the day. I noticed at the end of the day by allocating this time to relax and unwind, I sleep easier and I am more prepared for the next day.
