As a working mom, I make work-life balance a priority, so I always leave the office on time. Learn how you can do it with these six easy hacks in this post.

This post is sponsored by Boise Paper.

If you are a working mom, then you likely have to pick up a child from a childcare center, an after school program, or an extracurricular sport or activity. If you don’t always leave the office on time, you might be rushing (read speeding!) to pick them up, arrive late, or worry your child that you have “forgotten” about him or her.

I get off work at 5 and live about 45 minutes away from the office. My kids’ schools, seven-year-old daughter’s after school program, and 14-year-old son’s extracurricular programs are all on that side of town.

Sports practices end at 5:30 and the afterschool program closes at 6. So, I HAVE to get out of the office on time. If I’m not, then I’ve got a teenager sitting on the sports field and additional fees to pay to the afterschool program for being late.

It’s important to draw a hard line between work and home. It really helps with work-life balance. Are you wondering how can I leave work on time?

1. TO DO LIST

I start the day with a to do list. Do the most important things first. Once you have completed your priority work, your goal is just to make progress on other tasks or projects, without the pressure of needing to finish them. Keep it simple. You can keep track on apps like Flamingo about your tasks and always finish on time.

Your To Do list should have NO MORE THAN THREE THINGS on it for a given day. If you could only do one thing today to move your business forward, what would that thing be? Make this the #1 item on your To Do list.

Click here for a free to do list printable.

2. TIMEBLOCKING

“Giving every hour a job typically lets you make much more efficient use of your time.” “It allows you to schedule work for the time where it makes the most sense—batching together small things, tackling hard things when you have the long stretches to make progress, and so on.

The other advantage is that it provides you more accurate feedback on how much free time you actually have most days and how long certain recurring tasks actually take,” he says. (Source)

Stop wasting your time during the day. Stop checking your email every five minutes. Set aside a morning block and an afternoon block to work through and respond to any emails. Unless you are in customer service where all emails need a response immediately, this should work for you.

3. LUNCH BREAK

Lunch breaks are important, as they give you enough downtime to refresh yourself and focus for the rest of the day.

Start using your lunch break in ways that can help you feel better, be more productive, and buy you free time later in the day. Read 5 Ways to Use Lunch Breaks More Effectively.

4. HABIT

If you make it a habit to always leave the office on time every day, your boss and colleagues will come to expect it. Otherwise, leaving 15 minutes late becomes the norm and when you leave “on time,” it will look like you are leaving early.

5. RITUAL

Create an end of day ritual. Review your calendar for the next day. Create your list of three most important priorities. Gather files you will need. Set yourself up to hit the ground running the next day.

6. PAPER

If you use quality paper, you won’t have to worry about fighting with the printer when you’re trying to always leave the office on time.

According to a survey, the average worker spends two weeks out of each year wrestling with tech issues. That’s the equivalent of a normal vacation or an average of 20 minutes every work day.

Boise X-9 Multi-Use Copy paper is guaranteed to be 99.99% jam-free – and so is Boise ASPEN Multi-Use Recycled Copy paper. Boise Paper’s 99.99% Jam-Free Guarantee is backed by rigorous testing and can be ensured for both its recycled and non-recycled copy paper.

Although recycled paper often brings to mind dingy tint or uneven print quality, it’s time to take another look.

Thanks to technological advances and rigorous production standards, all Boise ASPEN® papers are designed to exceed expectations and feature the same hardworking characteristics and brightness as papers made without recycled content, such as Boise X-9® Multi-Use Copy paper.

If you’re worried about sacrificing quality when using recycled copy paper, Boise Paper dares you to get rid of your old perceptions by comparing their recycled copy paper with their non-recycled copy paper.

Boise Paper shares three ways its ASPEN Multi-Use Recycled Copy paper stands up against its non-recycled Boise X-9 Multi-Use Copy paper.

1 – Performance: The quality of your printed documents will not be sacrificed with Boise ASPEN Multi-Use Recycled Copy paper.

2 – Jam-Free Guarantee: Boise X-9 Multi-Use Copy paper is guaranteed to be 99.99% jam-free – and so is Boise ASPEN Multi-Use Recycled Copy paper.

3 – Brightness: Recycled paper traditionally has a stigma of being dull, yellow and dingy, but in reality, Boise ASPEN 30 and 50 Multi-Use Recycled Copy paper have the same brightness as its X-9 Multi-Use Copy paper.

Why it’s best to use a mix of recycled and non-recycled paper

• Non-recycled paper needs to be included in the mix of the recycling process to introduce new wood fibers to the cycle.
• Recycled paper can only go through the recycling process up to seven times before the original wood fibers break down, so when the process is complete, it’s crucial to have new wood fibers in the mix, like Boise X-9 Multi-Use Copy paper, to keep the cycle going.
• By using a mix of both recycled and non-recycled paper in your day-to-day life, the cycle will continue as it should.
• If recycled paper was only used, we would quickly run out of fiber sources.

Ready to try out this great paper for yourself so you can always leave the office on time (because you’re not fighting with the printer!)?

Thanks to this partnership with Boise, one lucky reader will win a $50 gift card to Office Depot!

How to Win a $50 Office Depot Gift Card

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This promotion is open until July 28, 2017 at 11:59 pm EST and is limited to US residents, 18 years or older.  The winner will be chosen randomly. Winner must respond to email within 24 hours or prize may be forfeited.  Promotional content and prize for this promotion is provided by and shipped by the sponsor and/or its representatives.  The prize may be sent via FedEx or UPS. No P.O. Boxes please.

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