With social media, we get snippets and highly edited reels of fragments of other people’s lives. It’s curated in a way that either props someone up to be idealized or entangled so deeply that they become just another image or video in the social sea. Many people are positively using social media platforms to connect in healthy ways with others. There is a genuine interest in learning more about others, sharing experiences, and giving more than taking.

I’m interested in knowing how you typically invest your hours on any given Friday.

• Are you staring at the clock all day in anticipation of zipping over to happy hour?
• Are your Fridays like your Mondays, so they are super fast or really slow, all day long?
• Are you slammed with meetings from start to finish?
• Is Friday the day you’re catching up on everything you didn’t do the other days of the week?
• Does your work day end in the morning, afternoon, or evening?
• Do you have a routine before or after work?
• Do you have Friday off and that’s the day you focus hours on class work for the course you’re taking? Or is it your beach, lake, or park day?
• Is Friday “errands day” followed by pampering at the barber shop, hair salon, nail salon, or spa?

What do you do when your work day ends?

• Do you head straight home?
• Do you stop by and pick up your go-to meal from your favorite restaurant? Or order it for delivery?
• Do you go to the gym?
• Is Friday your dedicated Bowling or Skating Night?
• Are you heading over to watch your child participate in an extracurricular activity?
• Is it happy hour time with co-workers, friends, or just you and whoever is sitting nearby?
• Do you meet up with friends to play card games (like Poker or Spades) or dominoes, chess, or video games?
• Do you find a movie theater or drive-in to chill out and watch something funny or scary?
• Do you volunteer at a local nonprofit?
• Do you rush to your family to take part in a family routine like Fajita Fridays? or Fortnite Fridays?
• Is it the start of your shopping spree? Or your Netflix and chill, binge-watching experience?

If you read my last post, I shared the thematic week days that I follow to keep me organized and feeling more confident (and less stressed). I mentioned what I do on Friday Team & Overflow Day, and I shared some tips on how you could modify your day. As I mentioned in that post, a few weeks ago I made the decision to structure my work week so that Friday’s I could shut things down by 3:30 pm. It requires great discipline Monday through Thursday, and sometimes I run over, give myself a “pass”, and relax when I’ve finally finished the task. I then can reflect, non-judgmentally, over the situation, understanding that “stuff happens”, and then I find ways to reward myself after-hours. A yummy meal or entertaining movie has been oh so rewarding!

If I pick up my nephew from school and take him to his swim lessons, then we usually eat a snack at the park or while driving to swim. After swim we seek out lunch and I’m usually listening to an audiobook, or we’re listening to music, or a Joel Osteen sermon. This four-year-old loves Joel Osteen! Then when he gets home we will either do a bike ride or he will play with his toys while I finish up my work tasks.

For about two years, I was trying to revive my childhood favorite, Pizza Night. As a child, my parents would take me out for pizza and video games, every Friday. And if you love pizza like I love pizza, then you know how absolutely awesome this was. We did this for years.

In 2019, I started testing it out and then in 2020, almost every Friday I was finding ways to enjoy pizza and a movie, or pizza followed by video games, and then a movie. The little child in me would giggle with glee. I have to be mindful of what I eat leading up to Friday and for lunch that day, so that Friday is more joy that guilt. I don’t want to have buyer’s remorse. That would suck.

I would love for my nephew to grow up experiencing the joy of themed days, anticipating the experiences that he will share with his loved ones. What a great tradition to pass on!

Another routine that I’m getting the hang of is doing laundry on Friday, so that my Saturday isn’t bogged down with laundry, housecleaning, and then trying to squeeze in my pamper sessions (with hair and skincare). I also mentioned that in my last post, and that I’ve been tweaking my Saturday and Sunday more and more each week. So far, I’m liking the results and how I feel. I’m noticing that I’m sleeping better, getting the most out of my days, waking more energized—yes, even on Mondays!

I have some other questions for you.

Can our Friday help to set up our Monday for success? Or does the weekend still play a major part? Or is whichever day that begins our workweek the day that we dread? If you have Mondays off, then would Tuesday be the day you dread, for instance? Or what if you worked every day except Wednesday and Thursday, would you dread seeing Friday pop up?

And why the dread? Do we have to rethink our workweek? Or is it that we have to rethink how we see work? Do we have to rethink the work that we’re doing or where we’re doing our work?

What do you think?

I won’t lie, I am trying to position myself where I can take Fridays off and get full breathing room for the weekend. I truly believe that I can create the infrastructure and systems that will allow all of my worlds to cohabitate in a Monday through Thursday realm. I’m hoping to achieve this some time this year. Heck, we’re almost half-way through 2022, and I’m excited at what I’ve achieved so far with my modified days. I believe I can do it and thrive.

Have you achieved this? Is it something that you desire? I know it’s not feasible for all work arrangements. I have noticed that there is a growing number of businesses that are converting to this framework, or providing it as an option for workers.

“The five-day week is not the ultimate, and neither is the eight-hour day.”

– Henry Ford, 1926

Ole’ Henry was ahead of his time!

~Natasha