You close your laptop and end your day. But then you're in your car, on your couch, or in bed wide awake at 3 a.m. - and your brain is still focused on work. You're thinking about what you did today - and also what you didn't do, and everything else that tomorrow brings. That's human - but it's also a quick way to start doubting whether this management role is for you.

Here's a fix, and (good news!) it takes about as long as it took you to read this far.

Last week's video and blog covered 3 questions to ask before you open your inbox - one for your team, one for yourself, one that has ripple effects across everyone. This week is the bookend: 3 questions to ask before you end your workday, so tomorrow actually starts ahead instead of already behind.

Try this - tomorrow, and the day after, until it's not a forced activity - it's just how you close out work, and give yourself peace of mind.

1) What did I control?

Start here, because it's the easiest one to skip over. As a manager, it's easy to feel like you're not in control of much - you didn't set the deadline, you didn't want the reorg, and you didn't expect someone you were counting on was going to have a bad week outside of work. That can all be true, and you can still control plenty: how you talked to people today, the decisions you actually made, whether you followed up with someone before they had to remind you.

That last one matters more than it sounds like it should. The manager who follows up without being chased is doing something a lot of people never learn to do.

Thinking about - and writing down - what you controlled isn't a pat on the back. It's a reality check - on the hard days, it's easy to feel like nothing was in your hands. Usually, more was than you're giving yourself credit for.

2) What did I influence?

This isn't always as obvious, because "influence" doesn't usually show up on a to-do list. You didn't do the work your team did today - but the feedback you gave, the question you asked instead of the answer you handed over, the tone you used - all of that shaped what happened, even if you can't point to a finished task and call it yours.

Think about the conversations you had. Did you give someone feedback? Did you find an answer for someone, and then actually loop back and tell them what you did with it? (That follow-up step is one almost every manager skips - more on that in next week's post.)

When you manage people, you have a hand in the outcomes your team produces, even on the days it doesn't feel like it. Reflecting on your influence keeps you from either over- or under-crediting yourself for how the day actually went.

3) What did I let go of?

This can be the one that actually gets you to sleep.

Something didn't go the way you expected today. Someone didn't get back to you and you're convinced they're ignoring you on purpose. A team member made a mistake and you're replaying it, building a story about why it happened and what this means for them (and for your own reputation).

Before you let your brain run with that story, ask what you can actually do about it - and then let the rest go. Maybe they forgot. Maybe your team member didn't fully understand what you asked for. Either way, stewing about it tonight doesn't change tomorrow. Deciding what you'll actually do about it does.

This is where the first two questions do their job. Once you've been specific about what you controlled and what you influenced, you can look at what's left - the stuff that's genuinely not yours - and set it down on purpose, instead of carrying it into tomorrow by default.

Bonus: What should I document?

Here's the one that's important, and I'm not just saying that as an employment lawyer.

I don't mean document as in "cover yourself." That can be important, especially if it's a performance issue and you end up down a path of a performance plan or even termination. But documentation matters in regular situations, too.

This is what I mean: if you had a real conversation today - gave feedback, addressed something, set an expectation - is there anything worth a quick follow-up note so it's actually clear? Not a formal write-up. But enough that if there's a gap later between what you said and what someone heard, you've got something better than your memory of a hallway conversation.

A simple version of this: after a verbal conversation that mattered, send a two-line recap. "Following up on what we talked about - I wanted to make sure we're on the same page: [the actual thing you talked about, with information they need to know]." That's it. That's not just for protection in an employee file. It's to make sure that when they get to work, they're actually doing the work you intended them to do. 

You can reflect on these questions in about two minutes. Asked consistently - alongside last week's three - they're the difference between a day that happened to you and one you actually led.

If you're in HR: Want your managers asking questions like this every week, not just when they happen to catch a video? Manager Method's leadership platform builds this kind of intentionality into how your whole organization leads. Learn more and set up a call to see a custom demo for your organization.

If you're a manager: If you're looking for a rundown of the things people leaders need to know (but no one teaches you), check out Manager 101. It's a foundational course for every leader, no matter your industry or experience.