Four Ways to Have a Less Stressful Friday
It’s almost the end of your workweek and suddenly you realize you have a lot left to do and not much time to do it. Ending the week on a stressful note sets a bad tone for the week ahead and, if this cycle continues, it could really throw your work-life balance out of whack. Want to have a less stressful Friday? Here are four things you can do!
1. Plan Next Week: If everything seems to pile up on Fridays it may be because you’re not taking the time to plan out your work week in advance. Friday afternoon is a great time to take 10-20 minutes to think about what you need to do next week and write out a rough schedule to make sure each task can get completed before the end of the day on Friday. This will help you make sure none of your days are overly stressful because you can divide your work more evenly throughout the week.
2. Focus on Learning and Brainstorming: After working hard all week, Friday is actually a great time to focus on brainstorming and/or learning a new skill! If you’ve found certain tasks challenging throughout the week you know which areas you may need to brush up on or which skills you need to learn. Additionally, Friday is a great time for brainstorming because this creative activity will take you away from the stresses of your workday and, if you’re struggling to brainstorm on Friday, your mind will subconsciously focus on these subjects during your weekend, which may spark the inspiration you’ve been missing!
3. Connect Over Lunch or Early in the Afternoon: Setting expectations for yourself for the week ahead is helpful on Friday but it won’t mean much unless you’ve touched base with your boss, collaborators, coworkers, or clients. Just before lunch, during lunch, or after lunch is a great time to meet up and touch base to make sure you fulfill expectations for this week before the end of the day and set expectations for the next week so you won’t have to rush around on Monday morning or spend your first day of the work week stuck in meetings, which could seriously halt your week-long productivity.
4. Set Up a Final 30 Minute Routine: At some point, no matter how stressful your Friday has been, you’ll need to get out of the office and go home. To make the end of your day less stressful and your transition into the weekend smoother, set up an end of the day routine. The tasks you save for the end of the day should take no more than 30 minutes and, preferably, should help you set up for the week ahead so when you come in on Monday morning you’re ready to dive into the workweek headfirst.
No one likes being stressed out on a Friday, right? Make yours a little less stressful by doing these 4 things. While it may not make your current Friday less stressful, it will positively effect all future Fridays and the rest of your workweek so you can be as productive as possible while maintaining an excellent work-life balance.