Could Friday Be Your Most Productive Day?

What did you get up to last Friday?

Were you having a bumper day of productivity, laying the groundwork for this week?

Or did you ease off the accelerator to enjoy that Friday Feeling?

By Friday afternoon, much of the working world will have clocked off mentally.

In fact, that’s what gives Friday the opportunity to shine as one of our most productive days.

I suggest that productivity isn’t solely about our output, it’s also about the preparation needed in order to be productive.

Don’t let Friday be a missed opportunity to prepare for success. Take the opportunity to get ahead of the game. 

Here are a few actions for Friday to help keep your foot on the pedal:

Assess where you are –

Review the week for any loose ends. Don’t rely on memory. Comb through your notes, task management system, emails, phone messages, action folder and the like. Ensure you’ve captured any outstanding to-do’s that may have gone overlooked.

It’ll give you a chance to take care of them today, if feasible, or at least record them for action next week.

Note your successes –

As you perform the review above, take note of what you accomplished this week. What were your successes? What are you most proud of? Did you do anything differently that brought about a positive result? Where did you step out of your comfort zone?

Don’t let the week fizzle out without acknowledging what went well. It’s a good exercise for positive reinforcement, and equally instrumental for repeating – and building on – success.

Glean the learnings –

Don’t berate yourself for anything that didn’t go to plan, or that you deemed disastrous. It’s water under the bridge. Instead, look at such instances from an objective viewpoint.

For example, say you missed an important deadline. A less-than-positive experience, yes. But it happens.

Take a proactive stance and ask how the situation might have been avoided. What could you do differently to safeguard against it happening again? Perhaps you could set your next deadline three days earlier.

Whatever your learnings from the week, note them in some way for reference or, preferably, apply them immediately to avoid history repeating itself.

Learning from mistakes is how we progress and forge future success.

Plan next week –

Give yourself uninterrupted time to focus on planning out the week ahead. Set goals and targets as relevant, and plan when you’ll carry out the work to achieve them. Remember to allow buffer time for the unexpected, and avoid overcommitting yourself.

Don’t forget the elephants on the horizon – identify those long-term goals and deadlines in the distance. What actions do you need to take next week to contribute towards those goals, and to remain prepared for approaching deadlines? If we don’t build in the time now, other less-important work will assume priority.

“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” –Winston Churchill

Sort the menials –

Friday afternoon can be a great time to take care of all those menial tasks that have built up over the week. Those little tasks add up quickly, so the longer they go unattended, the greater the backlog. So tackle those tasks that seldom seem ‘priority’ during the bustle of the week, yet are important for your business maintenance.

For example you might log your expenses, update your contacts, clear the downloads from your computer, and the like. A weekly sweep of the menials will keep things up-to-date while allowing you to work on important projects during the week, with your primetime energy on your side. Plus, menial tasks tend to be easier on the brain in the afternoon, making them a good match to energy.

Sorting the menials regularly will save you from hours of catch-up down the road.

Restore order –

Leave your workspace in the condition in which you’d like to find it on your return. Performed regularly, this should only take a few minutes. Put things back where they live. No consistent home? Then create one. File, clear and organise your desktop. A good wipe-down won’t hurt either. Empty the rubbish bin.

Be as thorough as you can and leave no stone unturned. The physical act of restoring order serves as a mental inventory, removing question marks about what may be lurking. Importantly you’ll enjoy peace of mind knowing you’ve prepared and readied your space.

Admire your efforts. The sight of your workspace should elicit excitement to return and get started again.

One more thing –

By now you may be chomping at the bit to leave. But. Is there one more thing you could do before you close down? Nothing to make you late, or to overwork your brain capacity at this point. But just one small final push.

Call or send an email to thank someone who helped you this week. Make one more appointment or RSVP to an event. Check supply levels – do you have a fresh ream of paper in the printer, or does an ink cartridge need changing? Is there some small task you were going to work on over the weekend that you could get out of the way now?

If time allows, one more thing can be the cherry on top to end your day satisfied, smug and ready to enjoy the weekend.

Don’t underestimate the power of what you can accomplish on a Friday afternoon.

The day is not over.

Seize the opportunity to get ahead.

Could Friday be your most productive day?

If not, what day is your Friday equivalent?

Which actions will help you most? 

What would you add?