At the end of the day, there has to be an end of the day.

In other words, know when it’s time to stop working. Set boundaries around your time. Work won’t stop, but we can.

But how can we get everything done? In one way, we can’t. As long as we live, we’ll have stuff we need to do. In any job, any position, any age, any organization, and any personal goals. Even babies discover right away they have assignments—get fed, get their diaper changed, get whatever else they need from someone. That’s called “delegating”.

The load will wax and wane in various seasons of life, but the completion of it all won’t end until we do here on earth.

That’s actually more encouraging than it seems. Why? Since that’s an unrealistic expectation, it means we don’t need to expect it of ourselves. At least not in terms of the all-encompassing “everything”.

At the same time, we can define the “everything” we need to complete in a day, a week, a month, a quarter, a year, and so on. We do that by:

• Setting the boundary for each day before starting it. Decide ahead of time when it ends, in terms of getting stuff done.
• Defining what we really need to get done in each of those periods of time. For example, if the bill has to be paid by this date, the deadline for completion is “end of day”, etc., that means “do it today”.
• Prioritizing so those “have to”s do get done. Using Michael Hyatt’s matrix of urgent and important– whatever is both important and urgent, do that first. Then decide between whatever’s urgent but not so important, or important but not so urgent. Hint—if the professor, boss, leader, says it’s urgent, it’s urgent.
• Leaving the rest as “hope to”s—at least for now, until they become more urgent and/or important.
• Keeping the “have-to-do” list short enough to not feel pressured to keep going past the time limit to get it all done.
• Not taking on too much to begin with. Ask “Is this really for me to do?” Not to encourage irresponsibility, although, it’s likely that people who have trouble ending their day aren’t lazy to begin with. This leads to–
• That skill we naturally developed as babies comes in handy as a lifelong, lifesaving, skill. Moses in the Bible learned this lesson from his father-in-law, when he was trying to judge a million people by himself (see Ex. 18:13-26).
• Realizing that whatever doesn’t get done today will still get done in time as long as we pace ourselves. Our productivity is proportionate to our energy and concentration. Trying to cram more into a never-ending day will result in a decline in both.

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Ps. 90:12

Here’s an example, from my own life: As with many (if not all of us), I’m easily distracted by “Do this NOW!” signals entering my mind. How do these signals come? Sometimes they’re someone coming up to me and telling me “I need this done/Please…” (or some form of that). Other times they appear as notices at the top or bottom of my computer screen. Or as text/message notifications on my phone or a communication app. Then, there’s the ever-present urge to check my email, and when I do, a message reminds me of something I need to do and forgot earlier, and now “time is running out…better do it now before I forget again!” You get the picture.

Such as while I’ve been writing this article, all of the above as happened. I skirted the computer “flash-up” notices, glanced at the pop-ups on the phone (sound is off), and managed to stay the course here… until a thought popped into my head—“Oh, I’d better check when my doctor’s appointment is tomorrow, so I can answer the coaching client who just texted to ask if I’m available at a certain time.” That “wind-gust” of thought blew me off course into checking my email and seeing that I still had to fill out the new-patient intake form. You know, those never-ending pages of required fields that demand our life story before we can see the medical practitioner. Tyranny of the “urgent” kicked in and I started filling it out…next…next… “Oh yeah, my article! Do I really need to fill out this form immediately when the appointment isn’t until tomorrow?!”

That’s the key question to ask—“Do I really need to (whatever it is) right now?” The sooner we ask that, the better. Develop a habit of it until that question becomes the automatic filter-trigger for every demand that enters our minds from whatever source. Once triggered, assess that demand according to the conditions listed above. Is it within bounds? Is it something someone can do and perhaps do better? Where does it belong on the “urgent/important” matrix? If I say “yes” to this now, what else am I saying “no” to?

It also helps to: Keep our phone upside down and on silent; turn off any sound-making notices; stopping visual notifications so they don’t break our concentration; (if pop-up notices still need to occur, train our mind to glance quickly and ignore them for now until we can check them later). That will help us end our day when we need to, when we don’t keep getting “blown away”, and having to keep coming back.

For our own sake as well as the sake of others, we need to end our day and get some rest! Leaders, this includes us. As with Moses, we lead best when we know how to end our days well.

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Ps. 4:8

Jesus is here to help us– Mat. 11:28-30– “’Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’”

How are you going to end your day today?