Setting Yourself Up for Success

A Productive Friday Means a Stress-Free Monday

It is the last day of the traditional work week for most nine to fivers. In fact, most people in the United States will enjoy the observation of Martin Luther King, Jr. day on Monday, so today signifies the last day of work before a three day weekend. If you are one of these traditional schedule workers, you are probably looking very forward to getting out of the office on time or early today.

By spending a few moments this morning to get your day’s affairs in order you can prevent coming back to a mountain of work and putting yourself behind before you leave the office.

It’s simple. Sit down with a blank sheet of paper and your favorite pen. Write down a list of things that you can easily accomplish today that you would normally put off until next week. Prioritize the list by what needs to be done today, what “could wait” until next week and then list the amount of time you estimate to complete each task.

When you have the list complete start off with a few of the “quick” tasks to get your momentum going. Once you have marked off a couple of them, tackle one of the larger tasks. Make sure that you are marking a line through them as you complete them.

By tracking your progress you are able to reward yourself each time you strike through one of the tasks you have listed. If you feel like you’re getting stuck or losing motivation, look back at the list and find a few quick tasks to knock out to get the ball rolling again.

Before you know it, you will have accomplished everything you need to get today and some things you would have put off until next week. Don’t let yourself bring stress into the future when you can nip it in the bud right now.

Do these small steps and you will find greater satisfaction over your weekend knowing that you when you come back, you will have an opportunity to get ahead instead of just catching up.