Leaving the office on time to get to school pickup isn’t easy when you have last-minute phone calls and chatty co-workers. Here, Laura Stack, author of Super Competent, offers her best tips.

Protect EOD time.
Block off the last half hour of your workday as unavailable time. This will help avoid eleventh-hour requests and train co-workers to respect your schedule.

Pull it together.
Don’t wait until 4:59 to make a quick pit stop at the printer. Instead, at least 15 minutes before your scheduled departure time, clean your desk, make a to-do list for the next day, grab your tupperware from the fridge, and put your coat in a visible spot. “This sends a clear signal that you’re about to leave,” says Stack. If you make an effort to stick to your own time frame, everyone else will, too.

Make a date.
Go ahead and make a standing commitment with your first grader or your Pilates class. Say “I will” to a winetasting course. Give your postwork plans more importance. “Most women can’t justify leaving on time if it’s not work related, but they should,” says Stack. Treat your after-hours activities like an impending deadline and you’ll stick to them more easily.

Time it Right
Here’s how to manage your time more efficiently so you aren’t always playing catch-up from Dorothy Breininger, president of the Delphi Center for Organization.

1) Preplan
If you’re a night owl, plan your schedule the night before when you’re sharpest. Allow an extra 15 minutes in the a.m. If you’re a morning person.

2) Power of One
Identify the most important task you need to complete each day and tackle it first. This will help you focus solely on the to-do at hand.

3) Set Limits
You’d like to exercise four times a week, but ask yourself how much time you can realistically dedicate to certain tasks. If you only have 20 minutes to spare, squeeze in some weights and schedule a bigger chunk for a run on the weekend.