Image courtesy of @brucemars via Unsplash.

It’s FRIIIIIDAAAAY!

We all know at least one person in the office who raves about the weekend – maybe it’s you.

Friday is just the day after Thursday and the day before Saturday.

We all need to stop living for the weekend, it’s killing our souls!

We’ve all seen the memes and merchandise, but I feel we don’t fully understand the real damage in using this phrase.

It’s like a forced smile disguising a lingering pain underneath.

It’s always been strange to me that we celebrate the coming of the weekend, this ‘living for the weekend’ culture – it’s just two days of a seven-day week.
Living for the weekend works out roughly as living for just 28% of your life, which honestly doesn’t sound healthy.

I appreciate that we may not all have our dream job, but we need to get out of the mindframe that happiness is just for two days of the week.
The week may be long, but life is short.

It’s time to stop celebrating the weekend and start celebrating the week, which is full of awesome days, each with a sunrise, a sunset, and plenty of hours for work and play.

In this blog, I have curated a collection of actionable steps you can do right now to change the way you look at living for the weekend.

So let’s work to change our ‘Fri-yay’ mindset, and start living for now.

Image courtesy of @dendrolago89 via Unsplash.

Just stop saying it!

Let’s start easy, just stop saying: “Thank god it’s Friday!”, “TGIF” and “Fri-YAY” – they’re all faux-happy phrases.

You need to stop saying this in front of colleagues and your boss – think about it, you're basically saying “It’s Friday, I can’t stand working here with you all, and I can’t wait to get away”.

It doesn’t exactly present you in the best light, even if it is true.

When you feel yourself slipping into these phrases, just take a deep breath, pause and switch it out with a question:

How’s your week been?
I am so glad I finished [insert project here] this week!
Any weekend plans?

You can certainly talk about your weekend plans (if you have any) or anything else you got done in the week – more often than not, we find we have a lot more time during the week overall than just those two days of the weekend.

Get a hobby

If you don’t have any hobbies or interests outside of work, and your job is your identity, it’s all too easy for your wellbeing to be attached to your happiness levels in your 9-5.

Hobbies and interests fill up your motivation mug and keep you productive and energised throughout the day.

Your hobby can be whatever you enjoy – reading, drawing, writing, sports… as long as you’re not endangering your life or someone else’s (which should really go without saying).

If you do what you love, you will love what you do.

If your 9-5 grind isn’t a passion of yours, you need to find other ways to fill your motivation mug: the fuller the mug, the happier you’ll be.

Become a specialist at work

Drill down into something you really enjoy about work – even the worst jobs have a silver lining.

Pick an area you love about your job and double-down on it, become an expert, a specialist, the ‘go-to’ person in the office for it.

This works in two ways:

Your ‘boring’ day is broken up with the thing you love doing at work, connecting you with what you love about your job.
As you specialise and your team recognise that, you’ll be given more and more of that kind of work. Over time your job role may change to match.

This has happened to me several times in my career, if your specialism fills a cap within the current structure or business this is amplified a hundred times over.

Don’t be negative

Attitude is everything in the workplace, and one bad apple can spoil the bunch.
A bad attitude is toxic for yourself and others around you.

Leadership often takes the hit for negativity with the team and work culture, whether they’re the problem or not.
It’s easily fixed by sharing a positive outlook – smile often, and take the time to laugh with your team.

I have seen great results by implementing a no-complaining rule in my life, with the only exception being if I have a solution.

Spend your time focusing on what you can change for the better rather than what’s out of your control.

Over time it’ll become a habit, and you'll never look back.

This goes for gossip too!

It’s easy to get sucked in, but it’s a slippery slope to a negative mindset.

Try to change the topic by saying “I haven’t heard that” or “I don’t know enough about the situation” and talking about something else, or even something else about that person who’s the subject of the gossip, and if that doesn’t work, try to avoid those who gossip.

Create a happy space

Think about the spaces you work in.

Do they make you happy? Are they optimised for you to work at your best?

Add personal touches to your workspace, like a novelty mug, nerdy notebook, or a cuddly toy on the dashboard of your car – little things that spark joy for you.

I don’t mean the two-week old, half-eaten lunch.

Keep things tidy and organised, so nothing impedes you in your work or negatively impacts your mental wellbeing.

Eliminate excess stress

I think I know why Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day: to eliminate stress.
The stress of clothes, what to wear and what to buy – imagine never having to deal with that stuff… bliss.

Okay, that’s an extreme example, but it gives us something to think about.
In our lives, there are things we have control over and things we don’t.

Often, stress at work is a result of outside forces, but there are some things that are within our control, and are preventable

Running late for work? You missed the usual bus because you didn’t know what clothes to wear, and spent too long staring at your wardrobe.
Skipped lunch? You didn’t do any meal prep last night, and instead watched old episodes of Friends on Netflix for the billionth time (us, too).

Take time to eliminate the little stresses from your life, and work them into your routine.

They can be tiny adjustments, which just make your life flow a little easier.

Here are some quick examples:

Keep your bag packed, and organised.
Fill the kettle the night before for your morning coffee.
Keep a work journal or to-do list, and actually use it.
Put your everyday carry in one location every time you get home.
Fill your wardrobe with a set colourway of clothes, so everything matches.
Pay your bills on time.
Have a calendar, and use it.
Stop multitasking, delegate and outsource where possible.

Value time

Time is your valuable resource, it’s finite.

You can always make more money, and there will always be more work.
So make sure you give your fullest to the hours contracted, then leave.

Now I know that sounds a little strange, but let me explain...

There’s a quote I came across on Pinterest a while ago by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam:
“Love your job but don’t love your company, because you may not know when your company stops loving you.”

He goes on to outline seven reasons why you should always leave the office on time, but I wanted to highlight number five:

“A person who stays late at the office is not a hard-working person, instead they are a fool who does not know how to manage work within the stipulated time. They’re inefficient and incompetent in their work.”It’s harsh, but think about it: life isn’t just about work, you need time for hobbies, socialising, entertainment, relax and exercise. “

Your 9-5 shouldn’t define you as a person.

Gratitude attitude

Focus on the positive, focus on solutions and start showing some gratitude.

There is a great episode of The Futur podcast with Errol Gerson, in which he preaches the virtues of the gratitude attitude, have a listen and your worldview will be changed:

Want some gratitude quick wins?

1. Say thank you, in person or written. Especially those who go the extra mile for you.
2. Fight the good fight, big up your team and coworkers. The rising tide raises all ships.
3. Help others where you can, listen to their problems.

Don’t waste time

Just because it’s a weekday doesn’t mean you can’t treat it like a weekend (within reason).

Got time on your commute or on a lunch break? Don’t just stare into space or, even worse, scrolling through social media.

Take this time and channel it into something constructive – all those little chunks of time add up a lot over time.

Read a couple of chapters, create a to-do list, call family or friends, have a snack, listen to a podcast or audio book, go for a walk, work on your side hustle, learn something new.

Don’t waste your precious time – you’ll never get it back.

Use the weekend

Flip the script of living for the weekend, and use the weekend to make the weekdays flow easier.

Instead of lazing around on Sunday afternoon nursing a full stomach and polishing off Saturday night’s leftover booze, use this time to make plans for the week ahead, make sure your days flow easier and eliminate what stress you can.

Here are some ideas to help:

1. Clean your house/flat and do laundry. Get your house in order so you can live easier.
2. Get all your food sorted for the week ahead.
3. Plan the week ahead, everyone loves a good checklist.
4. Celebrate the wins of the last week.
5. Declutter your home – less stuff means less worry, less stress.

Treat yourself

Treat yourself every day, not just at the weekend.

Shake up that fancy cocktail on a school night, crack open that expensive chocolate in the fridge and cook up a feast.

Stop saving all the good shit for two days of the week, do it now!

Escape plan

The last resort: if you’ve tried all of the things above and you're still living for the weekend, then it’s time to think about tunnelling out, and making your own great escape.

Start working toward an exit plan, sort out your financial requirements and dust off the CV.

Making the steps toward a happier future will give you a short term boost of happiness and hope of a bright future is always a worthwhile goal.

Do an online course in your spare time, start a blog on your professional passions (like we did), lay the foundation for your side hustle – the sky’s the limit!

That’s all folks for this blog, and some of the things I have implemented to escape the living for the weekend mentality.