5 Things You MUST Do Before Logging Off On Friday

For more than 25 years, MBO has led the charge to keep the independent economy moving forward. And now we are thrilled to give you advice to keep you motivated and happy with the work you do. Get our tips and hacks for making a positive work enviornment. Or drop us a line on a subject you want to hear about or get advice on.

When Friday hits it’s tempting to get out of the office or off your laptop as soon as possible. Generally, this leaves you with an unfinished to-do list that you get to pick up on Monday morning. 

Yet, to make those Monday’s a bit easier, we’re giving you 5 easy tasks you can do to wrap up work on Friday afternoon. We promise that by completing these few tasks your future self will thank you, and you’ll be able to enjoy your weekend stress free. And let’s face it, why worry about what’s waiting for you when you return to your desk on Monday. That’s only punishing yourself twice. Once with worry, and next with dealing with all those loose ends. And if you don’t want that, adapt these 5 tips into your Friday routine. 

Clear Out Your Inbox

One of the worst feelings is to log onto work Monday morning and be confronted with multiple emails. Regardless of the amount of time it takes to go through email after email after email, an overly full inbox also causes you to loose motivation and focus. Not a great way to start the week, right?

 Instead, keep your energy level high and prevent yourself from reaching for yet another cup of coffee on Monday morning, by deep cleaning your inbox. The easiest way to do this is to dedicate the last 20-30 minutes of your work day to go through your emails from the week and respond to all the messages you either forgot to respond to, or have been putting off. 

Tying up those loose strings will give you a sigh of relief and set you up for a less stressful Monday morning. 

Clean Your Workspace

We’re all culprits of it, one too many glasses, sticky notes, or take out boxes lying around our workspace by the end of the week. It’s one of the benefits of the growing Work From Home trends, where it’s all too easy to hide your desk mess on those zoom calls. 

Unfortunately multiple studies show just how ineffective a messy workspace can be. Messes can stunt your creativity, cloud your thoughts and cause you to be less productive. And if you can’t remember the last time you grabbed a duster or a rag to clean the surfaces and your equipment, you’re long overdue for a good cleaning.

So, either after logging off or a few minutes before hand, grab your favorite cleaning supplies and spend some time decluttering and wiping down your work area. This will give you a fresh start, when you jump back into work the following week.  

List Your Accomplishments From The Past Week

When we’re in the nose to the gravel grind, we hardly ever take time to celebrate our achievements. Instead we hyper focus on the next task we have to do and then the next one after that. 

Especially if you are floating from one zoom meeting to the next, it’s easy to neglect acknowledging any achievement you or your team makes during the day. 

This is why at the end of each work week it’s a pivotal for ones self-care to actually be proud of your work or what you’ve achieved this week. Make a list of your own accomplishments and then also make a list of some your team did or if you’re a manager, make one for each individual on your team. Not only will you feel great about yourself but you’ll create space where you can develop a love and appreciation for your job. It will also inspire your team to be proud of themselves, and to love their work life as well. And let’s face it, teams that trust each other thrive. Which is why taking time to celebrate even the small wins matter.  

Review Your Schedule for the Upcoming Week 

In order to be successful, you’ve got to plan ahead. So, take a look at your upcoming week. And if you see a particular meeting you know you need to prepare for, then make a quick list of tasks you need to do to be successful. Not only will this help you to maintain focus to get them done, but you’ll feel ready for Monday and have a game plan for the upcoming week. 

Actually Log Off

If you want to be fully refreshed for the week ahead, you need to log off. Taking time to be with friends, family or to get household chores done over the weekend is important. Constantly working, or responding to emails, or even making phone calls to others during the weekend, will only leave you burnt out when Monday hits. It also may not make you the most popular person in the office. 

Remember, everything will get done. If you know you’re a hard worker, have plan for the week ahead, and believe in yourself, then you need to calm down. Sure, sometimes major incidents come up where a weekend of work is required here and there. But most of the time, it can wait for Monday. 

So don’t give yourself a hard time for not responding or checking your email over the weeked. Instead, take a deep breath, and take some time to just be and enjoy the people around you. 

Overall, the work week can leave one tired and ready to slam their laptop shut when 5 p.m. hits on Friday. However, don’t leave your job in a mess. That will only come back to haunt you when your Monday morning alarm rings. Instead, wake up easy the next week and use our 5 tips to set you up for success.