7 ways to beat the 9 to 5

While Duke taught me how to be a critical thinker and an effective communicator, it didn’t instruct me how to sit on my butt in front of a computer for 8 to 10 hours of the day.

In college and in all of our schooling prior to it, we are used to constant change. We only spend quarters or semesters in each class and then we’re off to new pastures, in different disciplines, with different professors, in different parts of campus. And even if we don’t like any one aspect of those changes, we have a grace period in which we can drop and/or add classes as we please.

So if the academic year doesn’t prepare us for dealing with the 9 to 5 grind, maybe all those internships we have during the summer help us? Not really. By the time our internships end after 10 or so weeks, we have just begun to settle into our roles. We only get a quick taste of what it’s like to be a real adult before we are summoned back to campus to enjoy the land full of unexplored pastures and grace periods.

Needless to say, it is critical that the first 22 years of our life are full of this frequent change to expose us to more and more of the foreign world around us, one semester and/or summer at a time. However, this model of learning and doing poses significant challenges for fresh, bright-eyed college graduates entering the working world as full-time employees for the first time.

How are we expected to sit at a desk for 8 or more hours of the day, when we used to get extremely antsy after an hour in the classroom? How do we deal with the idea of potentially having to sit in the same chair, surrounded by the same people, doing the same thing for years?

As one who just had to experience these challenges, I must say that surviving 40 hours in the office is no small task, even if you absolutely love your job. I get through each day – the good and the bad – using these 7 simple (and I truly mean simple) hacks. They’ll help break your day into smaller, more palatable chunks, with more things for you to look forward to throughout the day.

1. Wash your face when you get to the office and after lunch. 

For you ladies (and men), no judgment here, who can’t do this because you wear makeup, take a wet paper towel and wipe your neck instead. The effect of cold water (especially during these hot summer days) gives you the feeling of a fresh, exhilarating start, when you need it most – at the beginning of the day and midday, especially if you’ve eaten a big lunch, i.e. a Chipotle burrito bowl. It’s the perfect way to energize yourself at the times when you need it most.

2. When you walk into the office, don’t make a stop at the coffee machine on your way to your desk.

If you’re like me, drinking coffee is a religious and rewarding experience. Before sipping that cup of joe, spend at least thirty minutes at your desk to collect your thoughts, write your to-do list, and respond to a few emails. If you generally dislike your job, sitting down at your desk at the start of the morning will likely fill you with a dose of unhappiness, so combat that by placing more milestones and rewards for yourself throughout the day. When you sit down at your desk each morning, say things like, “Alright, once I respond to these emails and write my to-do list, I can go grab coffee. God, I love coffee so much. Get to work!”

3. Use snacks and drinks to break up the day.

Don’t binge snack or drink. Pace yourself and exercise restraint. Reward yourself with a snack and cup of coffee or tea after you’ve crossed out difficult tasks on your to-do list throughout the day.

4. Develop and work through your to-do list strategically.

I’m obsessive about writing long to-do lists, but there are 2 unique features of the lists I make each day: 1) I write even the smallest of tasks on my list because I find tremendous gratification in crossing things out. 2) I code tasks in 3 ways:

-questions/items I need follow-up on? (coded with a question mark?)

-BIG TASKS, i.e. tasks that I won’t be able to complete that day (written in CAPS)

-small tasks, i.e. sending a specific email, filling out my timesheet, etc. (written in lowercase)

5. Have at least 1 in-person meeting a day.

We all hate conference calls – that awful introductory music, the 1 or 2 folks who forget to mute their speakers, the whisperers, and the endless beeping as participants join/leave the conversation. Have at least 1 meeting each day in which you can actually see and hear people. Whether that means having a daily 5 minute meeting with your supervisor to touch base or inviting your team to join a conference call together in a room instead of each dialing in at their desks, the importance of human contact cannot be understated. Sure, you see your supervisor and teammates throughout the day and engage in conversations with them, but it’s important to give yourself the opportunity to have someone’s undivided attention for a few moments of the day. This won’t just improve your outlook on meetings. It’ll surely help create a more effective and efficient relationship with your boss and team.

6. Break from routine.

Don’t eat the same lunch at the same time every day. For the last 6 months, I practically ate the same homemade salad every day at 12:45 pm. Although it was delicious, I could have really benefited from spicing things up more, but I was simply too lazy and thought that my salad was probably the healthiest, most cost-effective, and delicious option out there. In telling myself that lunch was always at 12:45, I created structure for my day, but would get super cranky if I couldn’t eat at that time, due to pressing deliverables and powers beyond me. Break from routine by pushing your limits. See how long you can go without having to go to lunch. The longer you wait, the shorter the rest of your day will be.

7. Step away.

Sometimes, you just need to walk away from your desk. There will always be those days when a formula in your Excel spreadsheet is just not working, or you can’t possibly make more edits to the same presentation again. During those times, just step away. Go outside, get some fresh air. Give yourself 5 minutes to recharge before tackling those dreaded tasks.

Best of luck, and always remember that there will always be better days ahead…called Saturday and Sunday.