For an increasing number of people the working week starts on a Sunday evening.That’s when they look at their diary for the weekend ahead. It’s when they start to think about work. What needs to be done before which meetings, actions to chase up, reports to write and reports to have read in advance. It’s when people can’t put off any longer checking their emails. Not just the ones they didn’t get round to on Friday afternoon but the ones they have received since. Thinking about work means worrying about what you have to do, what you haven’t done and what you might be asked to do. No wonder it’s difficult to sleep.
It really doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s start off with one of those examples of how not to do it from my own personal experience. The boss insisted the working week started first thing Monday morning with a Senior management team meeting. There was always a long agenda most items accompanied by a report to be discussed. The reports were sent out as a job lot on Friday afternoon effectively ruining Sunday evening. Conscientious as my colleague were in all other aspects of their work it gradually became clear that most reports had only received a cursory glance at best. People could be seen skimming the report as its author introduced it. Another trick was to randomly highlight sections so anyone glancing at your copy would see evidence you had studied the report. As you can imagine this lack of preparation resulted in a poorer quality discussion and an extended debate as people strived to get up to speed.
Lessons to be leant. Don’t send emails on a Friday afternoon and expect them to be replied to by Monday morning. Don’t send and don’t read emails over the weekend. That great idea or important question can wait till Morning. By which time you may have decided it wasn’t that great or as important as you originally thought. Don’t hold important meetings first thing on a Monday morning. Do respect the weekend.
Blair McPherson former Director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
