Many business owners and managerial types use Fridays as an administrative catch-up day. I’d been using that approach for many years, but found that as a result, I usually had an overflow of paying work that would have to be addressed during the weekend. While I was getting my office tasks back on Fridays, desperate clients who called at week’s end still needed to be assisted. As a result, I would work all or part of most weekends, feel behind on my household obligations, and Mondays would seem that much worse.

So… trying something different was called for.

For the past two weeks, I’ve worked like a maniac on Fridays, with a work-free weekend as my goal. Then, when Monday rolled around, I began the day tackling my own administrative tasks left over from the previous week. I’ve picked up a little around the house, took time for the extra cup of coffee over the paper, and it seems like I’ve begun the new week with a relaxed and fresh outlook. (My two college sons were home visiting this weekend, so part of my joyous approach to this Monday may be due to having had some quality time with my grownup offspring.) We’ll keep at this routine for awhile and report back on how it’s working out.