It’s no secret that most Americans work more than 40 hours a week, but are those extra hours necessary? “So many people say, ‘I have to do this,’ but they might just be putting those expectations on themselves,” says Maura Thomas, productivity expert, author, and founder of RegainYourTime.com . Many people make assumptions about what their boss wants without ever testing the waters to find out if it’s true.

“You shouldn’t need to work more than 40 hours a week consistently,” says Tracey Gritz, productivity expert and owner of The Efficient Office. If you’re getting ready to go on vacation or you’re working on a big project, you might need to clock more than 40 hours a week, but as a general rule, 40 hours a week should be sufficient to get your job done, Gritz says.

Productivity experts offer six practical tips that will help you to consistently work a 40-hour week in 2017.

Most employees have no idea what all their tasks, assignments, and deadlines are because most people keep the things they need to do scattered everywhere–in email, their calendar, a notebook, and on lists. “It’s like trying to do a puzzle with all the pieces in different rooms,” Thomas says. It’s much harder to step away from work when you don’t know all your assignments and deadlines, she says.

Thomas recommends spending 30 minutes to an hour compiling every task and deadline into a single list that is either available as an electronic document that can be reordered, sorted, or divided, or entered into a task app like Todoist or Wunderlist that allows you to set categories and due dates, and create reminders and alerts. “Most people will make this long list on paper, but then the only choice we have is to add a task to the bottom of list,” she says. “Sometimes that’s not the best place for it.”

Defining your goals and priorities will help you work less and will have the greatest impact on your workload, Gritz says. Limit your goals to no more than three, she recommends, because when someone sets 12 goals, it’s impossible to accomplish anything. Then set your priorities, which are typically more personal, such as not reading email during dinner, using all your vacation time each year, or spending Friday nights with your family. “Everything you do has to align 100% with your goals and priorities,” she says.

Limit your goals to no more than three, because when someone sets 12 goals, it’s impossible to accomplish anything.

When a colleague asks for help on a project, it’s hard to say no, and it’s even more difficult to turn down your boss, but, says Gritz, it’s important to say no to any task that doesn’t align with your goals and priorities. The next time a coworker asks for help, she says, simply respond: “Thanks for thinking of me for this project, but right now I have full plate with my current workload.” And if your boss asks for assistance, gently push back by saying, “If I do this today, of these three tasks, which one can I push to a new deadline? What would work for you?”