Why You Work Evenings and How to Reclaim Your Workday

I often see the same picture among people working in the office: the calendar is packed with meetings, endless checks and approvals in chats. And the real work, the one where you create results, remains for the evening.

And at that moment, it's easy to conclude "I'm bad at managing time." But most likely, the problem isn't with you. More often, it's not the work itself that exhausts us, but how it's organized: endless approvals, duplicates, and extra steps.

Below is a simple way to audit your busyness so that it becomes easier to live and work.

Quick Test: Work or Busyness?

I'm not suggesting canceling half the meetings—most of us don't have that authority. But there's something else that's definitely in our control: seeing where time is leaking and stopping the automatic loss of it.

Do a simple 10-minute check.

Open your calendar from last week and next to each meeting, put one number:

• 1 — there was a decision (what to do, who does it, deadline)
• 2 — there was a next step (fixed action plan)
• 3 — just discussed

Now see what there is more of: 1, 2, or 3.

If "3" is noticeably more—you're most likely tired not from work, but from the office routine around work: discussions, checks, approvals, and reports that change little.

Four Ways to Make Life Easier Without Authority

There's a simple logic for improving processes: remove, synchronize, simplify, automate. I love it precisely because it can be applied point-wise, even if you're not a manager.

1) Remove — At Least Extra Elements for Yourself

You can't always cancel a meeting. But often you can stop doing extra prep or stop participating "just in case."

What you can do:

• join not for the whole call, but for a specific block ("I'll join for 10 minutes for the decision on point 3")
• ask for the agenda and expected outcome ("what are we deciding?")
• if no result, ask for written summary and don't spend another hour on repeat

2) Synchronize — Reduce Waiting That Slows You Down

Overtime most often comes from waiting: you're waiting for data, a response, approval, and then the deadline sneaks up, and everything is done urgently.

What you can do:

• write in advance "I need a response by…"
• ask for one approval point ("who finally approves?")
• agree on a simple mode "response within 24/48 hours" at least within your project

3) Simplify — Make the Short Version Default

Sometimes we burn out not from complexity, but from having to format everything "as accepted": long, detailed, with ten attachments.

What you can do:

• give a short version first: 5–7 key points + "what I propose"
• details in the second iteration ("if needed, I'll send a detailed table")
• for meetings — 3 lines in advance: goal, options, what to decide

This doesn't change the company, but often changes your workload.

4) Automate — Remove Manual Labor in Your Zone

Sounds like for big companies, but automation doesn't always require complex tech solutions and development. Sometimes it's just stopping copy-paste.

What you can do:

• one template instead of five formats
• single file/data source instead of everyone keeping their own table
• standard project status format

Less time on assembly means more time for work and decisions.

What You Get from Such Time Cleanup

First and foremost, focus returns. Less time spent on switching, and it becomes easier to keep one task in your head and see it through to the end.

The feeling of constant rush goes away. When there are fewer meetings and more clarity on decisions, the sense disappears that you're busy all day but accomplished nothing.

You gain 1–2 "windows" of an hour or hour-and-a-half, where you can calmly do the work, not in 15-minute chunks between calls.

Visible results grow. You more often have in your daily done list not "participated and discussed," but "did and closed." And that's usually what impacts your work evaluation the most.

If you need the simplest criterion, I suggest this: two weeks after the first changes, you should have at least 2–3 hours of clear time for tasks that move your work forward. If it appeared—you took a truly useful step.