10 Ways to Make Your Working Week Go Faster
Isn’t it funny how a weekend feels like two minutes instead of two days but a working week can feel like five years instead of five days? You might think that your week is destined to last a lifetime simply because of the work element, but you really don’t have to spend the whole of it just waiting for 5pm on Friday. Instead of wishing our lives away, there are actions we can take to make the week go faster while getting the most out of it.
1. Plan Weekends
Many of us find ourselves on Friday afternoons not really having a plan for the weekend. As a result, we spend the weekend not doing very much except for worrying about the working week ahead. Come Monday morning, we struggle to remember the weekend at all. It’s like we never even had one. By planning our weekend to include fun activities to do with friends and family and pampering treats for ourselves, we not only give ourselves something to look forward to throughout the week but also guarantee we return to the office on Monday refreshed and energised for the week ahead.
It's also about getting the right balance. Having time for ourselves, our friends and family and our hobbies is really important if we want to lead a fulfilling, happy and balanced lifestyle.
2. Cherish Evenings
If you do nothing with your evenings except flop down on the sofa and watch TV, it can feel like your week is just one long work day. Break up the week by doing something different each evening that will take your mind off work and help you to feel generally chilled out. It doesn’t have to be a late night out – you can catch a movie straight after work one day and go for a calming massage the next. Again it's about work-life balance and getting this right.
3. Stop Your Caffeine In Take
If you’re lying wide awake at night, you’ll be exhausted during the day and an hour at the office will seem more like a month. One reason a lot of us struggle to get good quality sleep is because we’re drinking too much caffeine during the day. Limit yourself to one or two cups of coffee a day, ideally drinking them before lunchtime. If you can cut out caffeine completely, even better. Replace caffeinated drinks with herbal and fruit teas, hot chocolate and water with a twist of lemon or lime in it.
4. Make Mornings Fun
Your morning often sets the tone for the day. If you get out of bed on the “wrong side”, your day probably won’t be that great and will seemingly drag on forever. Start your morning as you mean to go on by blasting out your favourite music as you get ready or making a colourful fruit smoothie for breakfast.
5. Do What You Love
If we hate the work we do, it’s little wonder that our working week goes so slowly. As the saying goes “time flies when you’re having fun”. You may think you have no choice over whether or not to do work you enjoy, but think again. There’s nothing stopping you from asking your boss if you can shift more of your focus to the kind of tasks you enjoy doing. After all, a happy worker is a more productive worker.
6. Eat Properly
A week-long crash diet may sound like a good idea after a big weekend blow-out but quick-fix, fad diets can leave us feeling hungry. When you’re hungry, time definitely moves more slowly. If you’re aiming to lose weight, eat less sugary and fatty foods and introduce healthier options into your diet instead of just cutting out food altogether. Exercising regularly will also help us to drop the pounds without starving ourselves.
7. Take Breaks
Sitting at our desk and working for 9 hours straight day-in, day-out is both draining and monotonous. Be sure to break up the working day by always taking your lunch break and ideally at one least one break in both the morning and the afternoon. Try to get away from your computer during these breaks. You might even decide to get a change of scenery and some fresh air by getting outside and walking round the block.
8. Set Weekly Challenges
To keep things fresh and interesting from week to week, aim to learn about something new or to get involved in a new project every week. It’s important to feel like we are developing and growing both as people and professionals, otherwise each working week just feels exactly the same as the week before it.
9. Keep Busy
Isn’t it true that the busier we are, the less time we seem to have? This can actually be a positive if you usually find time passes too slowly. If you find yourself clock-watching at work perhaps you don’t have enough to do. If this is the case, offer to help colleagues with their work. While you may have nothing to do, a co-worker might have too much to do. Alternatively, talk to your line manager about taking on extra responsibilities. Whatever you do, make sure you don’t take on more than you do actually have time for – it’s important to strike the right balance.
10. Get an Early Night
There’s no law that says you have to be awake for a minimum amount of hours each week. If you find yourself at a loose end one evening and the hands of the clock seem to be crawling their way towards your usual bedtime, don’t feel like you have to stay up killing time. Go to bed early if you want to. Even if you’re not feeling particularly sleepy, you can spend some time getting comfy under the covers and reading a good book. If the book is interesting enough, you’ll find yourself engrossed in it and won’t even notice the minutes flying by.
1. Plan Weekends
Many of us find ourselves on Friday afternoons not really having a plan for the weekend. As a result, we spend the weekend not doing very much except for worrying about the working week ahead. Come Monday morning, we struggle to remember the weekend at all. It’s like we never even had one. By planning our weekend to include fun activities to do with friends and family and pampering treats for ourselves, we not only give ourselves something to look forward to throughout the week but also guarantee we return to the office on Monday refreshed and energised for the week ahead.
It's also about getting the right balance. Having time for ourselves, our friends and family and our hobbies is really important if we want to lead a fulfilling, happy and balanced lifestyle.
2. Cherish Evenings
If you do nothing with your evenings except flop down on the sofa and watch TV, it can feel like your week is just one long work day. Break up the week by doing something different each evening that will take your mind off work and help you to feel generally chilled out. It doesn’t have to be a late night out – you can catch a movie straight after work one day and go for a calming massage the next. Again it's about work-life balance and getting this right.
3. Stop Your Caffeine In Take
If you’re lying wide awake at night, you’ll be exhausted during the day and an hour at the office will seem more like a month. One reason a lot of us struggle to get good quality sleep is because we’re drinking too much caffeine during the day. Limit yourself to one or two cups of coffee a day, ideally drinking them before lunchtime. If you can cut out caffeine completely, even better. Replace caffeinated drinks with herbal and fruit teas, hot chocolate and water with a twist of lemon or lime in it.
4. Make Mornings Fun
Your morning often sets the tone for the day. If you get out of bed on the “wrong side”, your day probably won’t be that great and will seemingly drag on forever. Start your morning as you mean to go on by blasting out your favourite music as you get ready or making a colourful fruit smoothie for breakfast.
5. Do What You Love
If we hate the work we do, it’s little wonder that our working week goes so slowly. As the saying goes “time flies when you’re having fun”. You may think you have no choice over whether or not to do work you enjoy, but think again. There’s nothing stopping you from asking your boss if you can shift more of your focus to the kind of tasks you enjoy doing. After all, a happy worker is a more productive worker.
6. Eat Properly
A week-long crash diet may sound like a good idea after a big weekend blow-out but quick-fix, fad diets can leave us feeling hungry. When you’re hungry, time definitely moves more slowly. If you’re aiming to lose weight, eat less sugary and fatty foods and introduce healthier options into your diet instead of just cutting out food altogether. Exercising regularly will also help us to drop the pounds without starving ourselves.
7. Take Breaks
Sitting at our desk and working for 9 hours straight day-in, day-out is both draining and monotonous. Be sure to break up the working day by always taking your lunch break and ideally at one least one break in both the morning and the afternoon. Try to get away from your computer during these breaks. You might even decide to get a change of scenery and some fresh air by getting outside and walking round the block.
8. Set Weekly Challenges
To keep things fresh and interesting from week to week, aim to learn about something new or to get involved in a new project every week. It’s important to feel like we are developing and growing both as people and professionals, otherwise each working week just feels exactly the same as the week before it.
9. Keep Busy
Isn’t it true that the busier we are, the less time we seem to have? This can actually be a positive if you usually find time passes too slowly. If you find yourself clock-watching at work perhaps you don’t have enough to do. If this is the case, offer to help colleagues with their work. While you may have nothing to do, a co-worker might have too much to do. Alternatively, talk to your line manager about taking on extra responsibilities. Whatever you do, make sure you don’t take on more than you do actually have time for – it’s important to strike the right balance.
10. Get an Early Night
There’s no law that says you have to be awake for a minimum amount of hours each week. If you find yourself at a loose end one evening and the hands of the clock seem to be crawling their way towards your usual bedtime, don’t feel like you have to stay up killing time. Go to bed early if you want to. Even if you’re not feeling particularly sleepy, you can spend some time getting comfy under the covers and reading a good book. If the book is interesting enough, you’ll find yourself engrossed in it and won’t even notice the minutes flying by.
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