Date more to work less

I’m not fond of burning the midnight hour. Hopefully you’ve taken my advice to set office hours–even if you don’t have to. Still, you might be finding yourself slaving away into the wee hours. So what do you do?

Here’s a no-duh, common-sense way to pry yourself from your work:

Make dates.

It could be any kind of date. A family date. A romantic date. A play date. A Battlestar Galactica season premiere date. Or a hot hook-up date. Just make them concrete, compelling, and very very hard to change.

Dates are incentives. Carrots at the end of a stick. Schedule them to start right after your should end, and you’ll plan out your day to get that oh-so-tasty carrot just in time.

It’s funny how much faster and more organized you are when you know you’ve got a hot date to go to at the end of the day.

Can’t get a date? Come on, it’s easy. Try one of these myriad dating sites:

- Okcupid
- Match
- Chemistry
- Lovetastic
- and everyone’s favorite, Craigslist

Once you’ve got your dating life on a roll, you can formally graduate to the Unschedule, a technique developed by procrastination guru, Neil Fiore. The idea is to schedule everything you want to do, instead of what you have to do. For more, check out my post about it on LifeClever. If you thought that was a shameless plug, make a date with me to tell me you hate my guts.

What do you do to get off work on time? Please share your secrets in the comments.

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Comments (3)

by Ashley / November 4, 2008

I agree! Making a date for the evening makes me more productive because I know that there’s an end for my workday in sight. Plus, I like to be able to tell my boyfriend about my super successful day.

I also make fitness class dates, dates with friends, and personal interest club dates.
by russruggles / November 13, 2008

I work independently, and I agree: not only does having a date at the end of the day make me more productive during the day, but taking the time to relax and do something other than work makes me more creative.

Match.com is my favorite dating site, but I’ve used it so much that I have even come up with some strategies on it. I write about them on my blog (linked to from my name).