01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, July 10, 2005

Your company just implemented to-die-for summer hours.

You stand up and cheer at the notion of either having all of Friday off or only having to work it a half day. Or your company just shaved 30 minutes from each work day.

Once the elation dies down, however, you're faced with harsh reality: You must squeeze the same amount of work into fewer hours or days. How do you finish all of it in time to enjoy your desirable new hours?

The last thing you want to do is take work home with you, or spend your new free time feeling stressed over work.

Denver-based consultant Laura Stack wants to help. She has built a speaking empire on the topic of productivity and getting out of the workplace at a decent hour. She's written about it in a new book called Leave the Office Earlier.

She compares summer hours to having a forced vacation. "Before a vacation, people tend to be more driven and goal oriented," said Stack, who has a Web site, www.theproductivitypro.com, and a free newsletter. "Before a vacation, workers tie up loose ends, so they can leave the office feeling good about having everything wrapped up."

Here are some of the strategies and tactics she preaches. The purpose, she said, is to leave a job guilt-free, and to rediscover vision, vitality and enjoy life.

Our highest energy is in the morning. Prioritize tasks. Work on the most the important ones first.

Keep your focus. Remember your goal is to get out of the office by completing tasks with the highest value in a limited number of hours.

Depend on your team. Take advantage of colleagues by divvying up some of the responsibilities. For example, if you are all reading the same journal articles, divide them up and create summaries.

Turn off e-mail. You should check it at a designated time during the day. Obsessively clicking on the inbox wastes time.

Cut down on socializing, water-cooler discussions and avoid the newspaper. Bring a baseball cap into work. Let your team know that when it's on your head, you are focused on work. They should only interrupt you for something imperative.

Figure out a plan for the next day before you leave work. You want to start the day by hitting the ground running on the most important task.

Only schedule meetings before 4 p.m. The ideal time for meetings is just after lunch.

Get the message out that you intend to leave early. Tell colleagues that you have made a commitment to leave early, and you intend to stick to it.

"Right before you leave, close your door for a few minutes," said Stack. "People will think you are busy or have already left."

Whatever a colleague or employee wants, it can wait until Monday.

-- FAYE B. ZUCKERMAN