Focus Fridays: A FRY-DAY!

For a lot of people, Friday is a wasteful day. You're tired of the week, your mind is focused on the weekend, and you're probably checking out most of your coworkers. This day plan keeps your Friday productive, but it also keeps things relaxed in order to make your weekend more comfortable.

Instead of using Friday as a day to catch up on busy work, or waste it staring at a computer screen, many employees decide to spend time on three things that have not had time for the rest of the week: learning, connecting, and planning. Who uses focused learning on Friday mornings—reading books, taking notes, and working to improve themselves. They then take a couple of hours to connect with people around lunchtime—lunch meetings, emails, social networks, and organized professional meetings. And, most importantly, they shift around 3 p.m. to focus on next week's planning.

This does three things: on Monday morning you're going to be ready to hit the ground running. Your brain will unconsciously work through any issues you map out on Friday afternoon, possibly leaving you on Monday morning with fresh ideas. It provides a weekend closure. Planning for the upcoming week clearly demonstrates to yourself that it is time to relax and recharge with the current week.

Not everyone can adjust their Friday schedules to fit this method, but with a rigid schedule, you can probably still make time for each key concept. See if on Friday mornings you can get on the job training, make Friday lunches about touching base with coworkers and other professionals, and set aside a few minutes to plan your next week at least mentally.