For most office workers, Friday is a favorite day of the workweek. How many times
this week has someone asked, "Is it Friday yet?" or "When is Friday going to get here?" and we've all seen #TGIF on everything social. Actually, Friday gets a bad rap for being the least productive day of the workweek.
There are many factors for this:
- People are tired by Friday and they need some downtime to recharge.
- Many colleagues take a Friday off to extend their weekend, which makes it more
difficult to finish a project/report/analysis without everyone around to give input
or feedback. This also can cause mental block because we naturally feel a little
jealous that we're not off on that day as well. (Which brings us to the next factor - )
- People start mentally focusing on upcoming weekend plans, instead of work.
BUT, Fridays have many opportunities:
People are in better moods, so it's good day to discuss something difficult or to fix something that was tense earlier in the week.
It's a great day for those mindless tasks that need doing - like cleaning up the workspace or organizing files for a project - which will make going into the office on Monday that much better. It so much nicer to start a workweek with a clean desk!
It's also a good day for outreach efforts (calls/emails/social messaging) and for
following up on anything that needs clarification before the next week begins.
Again, people are in better moods on Fridays, which makes this much easier.
Fridays generally have fewer meetings and this can allow time to focus on actual project work, or jumping into research, or utilizing a training site, like Lynda.com, to improve a specific skill. Actually being productive on Friday will also greatly improve a Monday morning mood.
So, make the most of those good Friday vibes and then really enjoy your weekend.
