III) Do someone a favor. Doing something for someone else is scientifically proven to make you happier. Try out Adam's Rifkin's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/five-minute-favor-adam-rifkin_n_3805090.html">5-minute favor </a>habit. Here's a short summary of the helpful habits you can incorporate into your own workday shutdown ritual: <ol><li>Tidy your desk, save everything you're working on, and close out of all your tabs and windows. </li><li>Review your completed tasks at the end of each day. </li><li>Plan tomorrow's to-do list. </li><li>Leave open just the one tab you need to finish your Most Important Task in the morning. </li><li>Leave a quick-win to do first thing tomorrow. </li><li>Break down the tasks you've been avoiding into smaller, more manageable ones. </li><li>Keep a firm time for ending your workday by making plans to exercise or meet up with a friends. </li><li>Forgive yourself for not finishing everything. </li><li>Thank a co-worker. </li><li>Do a small favor for someone else. </li> </ol>

If you end the workday at a certain time, you will work more efficiently throughout the day. <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/12/working-hours">Research </a>consistently shows that the more hours we work, the less productive we become. Need proof? The graph below put together by <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/12/working-hours">The Economist </a>shows the stark negative correlation between hours worked and productivity per hour in OECD countries between 1990 and 2012. So where are all those extra hours going? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law">Parkinson's Law </a>states that work expands to fit the amount of time allotted to it. For example, if you have 2 days to finish a task, it will take 2 days to finish. If you only give yourself 2 hours to finish the same task, it will take 2 hours.

Main Takeaway: Clear your mind and conserve your willpower by planning tomorrow's to-do list at the end of every workday. Mark Twain famously said "Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." In other (less colorful) words: if you do your most difficult, important task of the day first, the rest of the day will be easy. Do your future self a favor by using your end-of-the-work-day routine to make it as easy as possible to get started on tomorrow's Most Important Task (MIT) in the morning.

My workdays used to go something like this: Sit down in front of my computer with a vague idea of what I wanted to get done. Check email. Get distracted by all of the new messages in my inbox. End up spending way too much time on urgent, but ultimately unimportant tasks.

How Exceptionally Productive People End The Workday

Freddie Hawkins