PsychologyToday: 3 Ways to Make the Most of Each and Every Day

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“The phrase “Thank God It’s Friday (TGIF)” exists for a reason. For people who don’t work on the weekend, Friday has the special status of serving as a gateway to good times. Whether those times are spent relaxing, socializing, or taking time to be with family, there is an aura to Fridays that can lead you to wait for them with great anticipation.

Ironically enough, you can be busier on the weekends than you ever are at work, saddled with errands, children’s schedules, or household chores. Nevertheless, the idea (even if illusory) that you are off the clock is so enticing that you probably don't let yourself be bothered by the reality of your hectic "days off."

When you take a hard look at the notion of living from weekend to weekend, though, does it ever strike you that by doing so, you’re writing off 5/7 of your actual life? Think about how many years this could amount to over the decades. Might it not make more sense to find a way to derive as much pleasure as you can from this large chunk of your time on earth?

What’s more, by trying to zip through your daily grind as quickly as possible, might you also be missing out on your ability to maximize your productivity and, as a result, your feelings of fulfillment?

How to Avoid Being a TGIF Person

Your ability to perform to your maximum is affected by your tendency to fall prey to the entrainment principle. Indeed, given the role of job demands in the study’s results, it would seem particularly important to resist becoming brought down by entrainment if your job isn’t all that physically or mentally engaging.

Try these 3 ideas:

• Try some mindfulness training. There is a growing body of evidence showing that it's possible to learn to focus your attention away from distractions and more intensely on what you’re doing in the present moment.
• Build-in more challenges. If your work isn’t particularly stimulating, give yourself your own deadlines or turn the difficulty level up a few notches by tweaking your job tasks.
• Disrupt your weekly patterns. If you're a full-time homemaker, do your laundry on a Thursday instead of a Monday. If you’re working outside the home, consider proposing that employees celebrate not with a Happy Hour on a Friday afternoon, but with a Taco Tuesday instead.
  

To sum up, breaking an entrainment cycle that has built up for years may not come all that naturally to you, especially if you’re easily distracted. However, engaging your mind in what you’re doing can help you ensure that each and every one of your days reaches its maximum fulfillment potential.

Key points

• New research shows how easy it is to fall into the entrainment cycle, where you only live for the weekend.

• Living in the moment can help you refocus your attention so that you break that entrainment pattern.

• Once you're free of the TGIF mentality, you can enjoy and be productive for all the days in between. “

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#TGIF #Mindfulness #BreakRoutine