Should You Finish Work Early When Working From Home?

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One of the biggest perks I found working from home for the past two years has been the ability to manage your schedule. After all what better than working from home than beating the commute and catching up on some household chores. That being said is it a good idea to finishing your work early when working from home? 

When working from home, if you finish your work early, it is acceptable to finish your workday, so long as your manager or work policies do not take issue with this. It is essential however that you are still able to be communicated with easily and effectively. 

So when is it appropriate to finish work early when working from home? And what should you do if you find yourself getting your work done before the day is out? Keep reading to find out more. 

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Should you finish work early when working from home? 

One of the most surprising statistics I’ve learned during my time working from home is that employees work 16.8 days more per year than their office-based counterparts. 

This works out to an average of an extra day and a half per month to get more stuff done – to anyone who works in a high-stress work environment we all know just how important that is. 

Now while this often means that remote and home-based employees often work longer and harder than other employees it does mean that on the (rare) occasion employee who works from home finish earlier. 

So is it appropriate to finish work early if you’ve done all your tasks when working from home? 

The answer will obviously depend on the organization you work for but I would consider the following points: 

• What is your manager like? 

• What do your work policies state?

• Can you be communicated with effectively?

• Is this a one-off or a regular thing? 

• Will you tell people? 

Let’s explore these below: 

What is your manager like

So when it comes to things like finishing work early or starting later, often these decisions will be made not by HR teams or HR departments but by your direct line manager. 

For example, if you work in sales it will typically be your sales manager or head of sales that you will need to speak to as opposed to the HR team. 

Now if you are close with your manager who is reasonable and balanced, then it is likely they will allow you to finish work early – they might be more inclined if you are working from home as they might be doing the same. 

One of the things that might have stopped them from allowing you to finish early before, is the perception of other managers.

For example, if the Sales Manager was letting their employees finish early when their work was done, but the Customer Service Managers were making their employees work till the end of the day, regardless of work completion then this could prove to be an issue. 

With everyone working from home, this can be easily shielded. 

The best thing to do then if you think your manager will allow you to work from home is to set up a meeting during your workday ( preferably a one-to-one session) and ask them for their thoughts. 

What do your work policies state

Now one other major thing to consider is what the actual policies of your workspace look like. 

For example, you could have the best manager in the world who is more than happy to allow you to finish work when you have completed all your tasks but if your policies don’t allow you to do this then their hands are tied. 

The best thing to do if you are unsure is to speak to your HR team or read through your work contract. 

Now the good news is that if you are reading this, it is likely you are working from home (pandemic withstanding or not) regularly. 

If this is the case then your workplace will have a flexible work scheme in place that will often allow you to work flexibly. 

This will include things like starting late finishing early or wanting you to work a set number of hours per week where you decide what these hours will be. 

Currently, around 57% of organizations offer flexible work schemes, an increase of 55% back in 2017 and a number that is likely to grow for the foreseeable future. 

Can you be communicated with easily

So if you have the right policies in place and your manager is more than happy for you to finish work when your tasks for the day are complete your good to put your laptop away and whack on Netflix right? 

Not necessarily. 

You see whilst you might have finished your tasks I would still ensure that you’re able to communicate effectively until your typical workday ends. 

For example, let’s say you completed all your tasks for the day by 3 pm but your workday finishes at 5 pm. 

Whilst it’s perfectly fine to start doing chores or chilling out I would keep any portals of communication open such as keeping your phone on loudspeaker or checking your emails regularly – to help explain more I’ve made a table explaining how you can communicate when working from home once your tasks have been accomplished. 

Communication Method	How To Communicate Once Your Tasks Are Complete
Phone	Keep your phone off silent mode so you can hear any important calls and notifications that may come in
Email	Be sure to check your emails every 20 minutes in case anything important crops up.
Slack or other messaging systems	Slack or other internal messaging systems will usually have a push notification feature., this will allow you to see and keep abreast of any new information
Video Calls	Check your calendar every 20 minutes in case any new video calls are placed, ensure you have dressed appropriately so you will look good on camera.

Is this a one-off or a regular thing

The next thing to consider is how regularly you’re finishing your work early. 

After all, if you find that you are completing all your tasks 4 hours into an 8 hour day, it will be easy for you to feel frustrated – and you may need to speak to your boss to get an idea of you to get stuff done so quickly. 

One of the things that you might want to consider if you’re finishing your tasks super early is focusing on your tasks the day ahead allowing you to catch up on your work for the week. 

That being said if you typically finish an hour early and need the extra hour to pick up your kids from school or take care of a family member then you can schedule this into your day. 

We’ll cover this a little bit further down the post,  but understanding not only how regularly you finish your work early when working from home, but also what you do with the free time you have been given is important. 

If you do have to spend some time away from your laptop for example if you have to rush to pick up your kids from school make a note to check in on what’s happening at work every 15 minutes or take your phone with you which will likely have apps for your email, slack and other methods of communication. 

Will you tell people

Probably the most controversial piece in this post. 

I mean let’s face it, if you get your work done a few hours early, what’s the harm in finishing things a little early and not telling anyone?

Speaking from experience, if you do ever do this you will eventually get caught out and it can be embarrassing explaining to your managers or team when you didn’t join that emergency meeting. 

The best practice then if you do finish early is to always speak to your boss to let them know you will be away and that if anything important comes up for them to message you directly.

Good reasons for finishing work early

So now we have a good understanding of if you should finish work early when working from home, what are some valid reasons that almost all organizations will allow you to finish work early – these should work regardless if you are working from an office or not. 

You’re sick 

Whilst a lot of us think that we can power through our sickness and just get our work done the truth is that working while your sick or feeling under the weather is just not going to benefit anyone. 

So if you’re feeling genuinely sick and can’t focus on your work then rest assured that most companies will be fine letting you finish work early to rest up. 

Family emergencies 

While a lot of us think the companies we work for as being corporate hell holes that try to wipe out any sense of human nature the truth is that companies are made up of people and most people are good-hearted. 

As such, if you do have a family emergency such as a close loved one going to the hospital, passing away or someone in need of a helping hand, most organizations will be more than happy to accommodate and let you finish early. 

Home emergencies 

I’m pretty sure at least everyone has had the call from their neighbors at some point in their life saying the pipes have burst or there is s strange smell coming from your house. 

House problems happen ad so whether it’s a leaky drain or a roof that’s collapsed most workplaces will help you accommodate and manage that. 

Changing clothes 

So if you’re anything like me, you fall over, a lot. 

This clumsiness can lead to things like 90% of the food you eat not actually ending up in your mouth. 

Accidents happen so whether it’s a case of spilling food that doesn’t wipe away or something that needs a bit more of a complete change (accidents with toilets or those bought by the menstrual cycle) finishing early to clean yourself up and get changed will likely 

Doctors appointments 

Have you ever taken a bite out of an apple only for your tooth to come out with it? What about those days when you feel more lightheaded than normal and end up fainting? 

The truth is that doctors appointments that you did not count on happening and so most organizations will be happy for you to take these types of appointments and finish work early because of them. 

Picking up the kids 

In the UK, there are about 6 million employees who have dependent children that work full time. 

Globally around half of all employees over the age of 18 have kids. 

All these stats point that the majority of people in full-time employment have kids. 

As such doing things like picking up your kids when you don’t have a babysitter or starting work late because you were dropping them off is acceptable for most companies. 

This was one of the major reasons why flexible working first started. 

Are there bad reasons for wanting to finish work early

Now for most of you reading this, you will have legitimate reasons for wanting to finish work early, there are however a few reasons that you should avoid. 

If you find yourself wanting to finish work early when working from home for these reasons then you should probably think twice: 

1. You’re bored of your work – so if you have work to do but are bored of the amount you have to accomplish then finish early while you still have tasks to do should be avoided. 
2. You want to sleep in – whilst not all of us are morning risers, getting a few hours extra sleep or finishing early to power nap isn’t a valid reason to finish work early. 
3. You want to spend time with loved ones – whilst spending time with loved ones itself is not a bad reason to wanting to finish work early. If you are doing this regularly to the point where you do not complete your tasks in time then this should be something you look into. 

What companies allow you to finish work early when your tasks are complete

So with the world of work changing and work patterns moving from psychical structures to more remote work-based employees, several companies have implemented a results-only work environment or ROWE for short. 

Rowe environments essential mean that companies let here employee finish once her tasks for that days are complete. 

Many organizations now offer this as a benefit to attract employees, this included the likes of: 

• Polen Capital 

• CMCH

• Zappos 

• Best Buy 

• GitHub

• Trello

Now if your interested in learning more about taking breaks when working from home or time management I would recommend you have a look at the following posts:

• How often should you take breaks when working from home? 
• Is working from home productive? 

Finally, a lot of people reading my blog want to know what products I recommend for a home office/remote working. You can find out my recommendations here and learn how I make money whilst working remotely on the side here.