At the end of the day

At the end of the day is an idiom with several meanings. It can literally be the end of one’s waking hours, or the end of one’s work hours. The phrase can also be used in a summary statement to mean ‘when all the information has been considered’ or ‘the most important part is’.

A related phrase by the end of the day carries more of a deadline, but still can mean either the end of the work day or the end of one’s waking hours. This phrase is also used without the deadline to talk of a future time at which all the information would be considered.

Examples

At the end of the day, many people add up what they have accomplished since they got out of bed. [Daily News]

But at the end of the day it’s still a scrimmage, you can’t get too excited. [Brownsville Herald]

What concerns me is seeing business owners and start-up entrepreneurs focus so much energy on securing a good location or spending money on interior designers when they should be focusing on the customers who will, at the end of the day, sustain the business. [The National]

By the end of the day, they would have built their own web-based application from scratch, even though most of them have never undertaken computer coding before. [The Australian]

I know if I tell my editor I’m going to get 12 features done by the end of the day, it’s never going to happen and I’m going to be very stressed by 5pm. [Huffington Post UK]