A Beautiful And Pleasant Friday Starts From Here.

And you might ask from where it starts.

It starts with our minds. Fridays are typically tough for working and getting things done. Mentally, we give in to the notion that our working peak for the week is over. Psychologically, well, the workweek was over by Thursday evening.

I personally feel as if the week is over when I shut my laptop on Thursday. I mean, I know that is far from reality. For most of us, we still have to labor for another tranche of 8 hours. And we don’t have the motivation to do it. That begets the question.

“What can we do about it? How should we think about Working Fridays?”

This thought was suddenly conceived in my head as I was on my morning walk. Then that thought bubble grew bigger as I increased my step-count. I started recalling how everyone was slogging and dying away spiritually throughout their Fridays. Yes, it was a slugfest. My personal experience and outward observations say so.

Then, I started thinking. How should we think about Fridays? Can Fridays be productive? Can it be meaningful?

And maybe, there is a way to put meaning back into Fridays.

Firstly, working productively on Fridays is difficult as we regard them as the close of the week. And we can’t wait to pull the finish line closer to us. Make it at 1 pm instead of 5 pm. We tend to slip into the notion of “This is urgent, that is not, do it on Monday so fret not”. Then we will all quickly shift into the email firing squad mode. All emails, no work is done.

Maybe we should use Fridays to prepare for the start of next week. Have a pre-Monday. Mondays will be slow too, so at least we have a longer runway for take-off. At least we have a chance to take off on Mondays.

Secondly, manage Fridays on Thursdays. Before the close of working Thursdays, review work to be done on Fridays. Go for low-hanging fruits and completions. Emails to clients? Okay. Attend internal meetings? Accept. Knock-out administrative tasks? Yup. At the very least, we get to take care of the menial items in our own backyard. Oh, and remember to submit our business expense claims. I do that gleefully every Friday.

Lastly and possibly, arrange for do-lunches. I find that even when my energy levels are low, I can hold myself up very well when it comes to meeting people. Plus, the end of the week means people are more relaxed and are willing to listen to novel ideas, bold proposals. So, keep the calendars full. In any case, it is always much better to be outside of rather than in the office on Fridays.

My Personal Reflection.

There are always ways to cope with the slow-moving, light-hearted Friday. For me, the important thing is to keep moving. Sometimes, even plucking many low-hanging fruits can be an achievement in itself.

However, that is just me. We all have to reflect and have to find our sweet spots. Maybe we can start thinking about it on a Friday morning.

Sluggish Fridays Reflections,

Aldric

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