Leaving Work "Early" (a.k.a., Normal Time)

A couple of months ago, I left work "early" the day before I left for Washington, DC to attend my cousin's wedding over the weekend.

By "early," I mean 10 minutes before 5:00. The horror!



But for many people, 10 minutes before 5:00 probably isn't "early." Just normal, depending on when they started their workday.

I call it "early" because I'm usually fighting leaving work before 5:30, unless I need to for a family obligation, even when I'm not in my busy season. It sounds terrible, like I don't value time with my family. Maybe subconsciously, that's what is happening. I've certainly been called out on acting like work is more important than family.

I've been trying to work on it though!

This particular day last week, not only did I leave a little earlier than usual, Greg offered to pick up both kids and take Evelyn to her dance lesson. That 70 minutes at home by myself, I felt, made such a big difference in accomplishing some house upkeep tasks, because I was able to:

• Tidy the kitchen (it gets the messiest during the week)
• Clean the kitchen island and eat-in dining table
• Put away Parker's clean laundry
• Pick up some items lying out of place on the floor
• Vacuum the tile floor in the kitchen and a stretch of high-traffic carpet
• Start dinner in the oven
• Get halfway through making a smoothie to go with dinner
• And! I spent 10 minutes catching up on my Instagram feed
  

If felt so good! Like I was rocking life! Of course, it helped that Greg picked up the kids (thanks, Greg!) because although Evelyn needs minimal direct supervision at home these days, Parker is still very much in need of attention given his age. Although it makes me recognize the benefit of leaving work even a tad earlier than I like to, I suspect it will be hard to tear me away from old habits.