End of Working Week - Satisfied or Not?

How was your week?

Are you a list maker? If so, how many items on the lists made during the week have been completed?

How do feel if all or most have a tick beside them? How do you feel if they don’t?

If you are not a list maker, chances are you would have started your week with a conscious set of actions you wanted to complete or objectives you wanted to achieve.

Inevitably, how we feel on a Friday depends on what we perceive we have achieved judged against what we set out to achieve – consciously or subconsciously.

If you deem your week to be less than successful, what will you do next week to achieve a better outcome?

If your week has been successful, do you understand why it was, or did it just happen?

I suspect most of us reach the end of many weeks with a sense of relief and a touch of dis-satisfaction.

All too often, we feel the circumstances that impact our end of week work happiness are outside of our control. Many of us have become experts at blaming others for our challenging week.

There are three really simple things that if practiced consistently, will improve that happy end of week feeling and perhaps also improve your weekend.

1.       Prioritise, prioritise and re-prioritise.

Understand with absolute clarity what you want and need to achieve for the week and then prioritise each item. If something unexpected comes up and your input is requested, asses it against your priorities and deal with it accordingly, which may be to not deal with it at all.

2.       Say “No” to as many requests for meetings as possible.

Meetings bloody meetings. When asked to attend a meeting, before agreeing, ask what the purpose of the meeting is and what the measurement will be for it to be considered successful. Chances are a less senior member of your team can attend in you place and if detail is required, they will be more useful than you. It is also a chance for them to shine in front others, therefore pushing their credentials.

3.       Get yourself an e-mail management plan, and stick to it.

The most time effective people are those with a plan to deal with their inbox. Devise a plan and then stick to it. Your plan is your plan and needs to suit your work patterns and work personality.

Whether you allocate specific times each day, determine a minimum time before responding to an e-mail,  or only open an e-mail when you intend to action it or something else. If you don’t have a plan, you risk being taken advantage of and you risk always having a plausible distraction.

4.       Do it consistently, always.

Prioritise, say no and devise and execute a plan. These three things will make a difference.

Enjoy your weekend.