Things I'm conscious of or trying to do to leave work early, even with deemed overtime.

Nobody likes working overtime beyond regular hours.
At my workplace, we're paid a "deemed overtime allowance," so the earlier I leave work, the better.
Even so, it's rare to find someone who leaves work on time.
While I do have a heavy workload, I've recently realized that I also have some issues, and I'm trying out a few things to address them.
This time, I'll write about a few of them.

Are you even trying to leave on time?

This is a point that hits close to home for me.
To be honest, I've resigned myself to the fact that overtime is unavoidable.
However, if you give up here, everything written below will be for nothing.

Plan your day assuming you'll be leaving work on time.

Generally, unexpected things and sudden tasks come up.
Instead of cramming your schedule full, make sure to leave plenty of free time.

Are you engaging in unnecessary small talk while working overtime?

This is another area where I've realized my shortcomings and am working to improve.
When you stay late after regular working hours with your boss or subordinates, you often end up talking about work or just chatting.

However, overtime work is an exceptional situation where you stay at the company because there are things that absolutely must be done.

僕はこのように考えて、どうしても聞かなければいけないこと以外は、後輩に声を掛けるということをしないようにしています。
From a junior employee's perspective, if a senior or superior calls out to them, they can't refuse, and they end up stopping what they're doing.
I try to avoid doing this because it would involve people who are working overtime in my own selfish circumstances.

Is that really a job that needs to be done today?

Actually, all the work that really needed to be done today was already finished during normal working hours.

Most of the time, what I was doing was something that I could do tomorrow, but I was doing it in advance to avoid rushing around tomorrow.
Certainly, if I have a drinking party where I've already paid the membership fee, or if I have a mahjong game scheduled, I'll go home even if I still have some work to do.
In other words, the work that really needed to be done has actually already been completed.
Since the work done during regular working hours needs to be completed quickly, it is efficient.

However, during late-night overtime, you don't have to worry about the time behind you, so you tend to work slowly and leisurely.
This weakens the motivation to work efficiently, and hinders the improvement of skills in completing tasks quickly.
I keep falling into the sweet trap of taking my time and not being rushed.

Create a motivation to go home early

This is also a very important point.
Those who don't intend to leave early in the first place tend to stay at work and just chat idly.
There are all sorts of people: those with strained family relationships, those with nothing to do and no hobbies when they get home, and those without a partner who are simply lonely when they return.
It might be fine if those kinds of people are just killing time amongst themselves, but involving people who are trying to go home early is extremely annoying.
I'm not trying to criticize people who have made their work like a hobby, or who consider their work itself their identity.
However, for most people, work is just work.
There's no benefit in going above and beyond what's necessary.

If you don't enrich your private life and create enjoyable activities, you won't have the motivation to go home early.

Childcare, going to the gym, playing mahjong, drinking, anything is fine.
In any case, let's make a plan to be home by [time].
If you can think, "I can do this tomorrow," then that's the kind of work that can be done tomorrow.
I think everyone has those kinds of opportunities, so try to remember what it was like back then.

The heavy workload is the company's responsibility for not increasing staff.

"Even so, if I don't finish my work, it'll just keep piling up..."
Some people might think that way.
If it's just a busy period, then working overtime might be unavoidable.

However, if the workload is such that you have to work overtime almost every day, then it simply means that there aren't enough staff.

If you're the only one who's stubbornly handling everything and sacrificing yourself, the company will conclude that they have enough staff.
If a customer complains that "they're not making any progress on the work," the company will likely realize that it's understaffed.

If you're not deliberately slacking off, then you simply have too much work.
Be confident.
If you're criticized for leaving work early, just tell them, "I don't do overtime that doesn't pay me."

You don't need to give your time, a precious and limited resource in your life, to a company for free.
Your time is more important and precious than anything else.

summary

I get the feeling that many people who end up working overtime are those with a strong sense of responsibility.
I think many people feel like they want to avoid leaving work for tomorrow as much as possible, and want to finish it as quickly as possible.

However, my presence here will have a negative impact on those around me.
I think it would be difficult to suddenly eliminate overtime entirely.

However, if we adopt the mindset that working overtime is not the norm, but rather "specially staying late to finish tasks," I think things will gradually improve.