That Friday Feeling vs. ‘All Done.’

It’s Friday. It’s been a long week, choc-full of challenges. We all know that Friday Feeling. A mixture of relief from what has passed, and anticipation of what will be. The work-week repels whilst the weekend pulls.

These days there’s a lot of anti-TGIF sentiment, but I think some of it is misplaced. Blowing off steam after a long week is important, and probably good for you. But, in my experience, the benefits of that good ole ‘TGIF high’ pale in comparison to what I call the ‘all done’ feeling.

The ‘all done’ feeling is not just stepping back from the rock you’ve been chipping away at, and saying ‘hmm, pretty good’. It’s knowing that you’ve made irrevocable progress on something worthwhile, something that you own. You have changed it, and it has changed you. You’ve ratcheted things up a notch and now, thankfully, it’s not possible for things to slip back to where they were. The day’s work is finished. It’s banked. You know that next week will bring new challenges and that conquering those will mean extending your boundaries still further, but for now you’re done.

With these distinctions in view, here are a few conclusions I’ve come to over the last few weeks:

• The above explains why it’s rare to hear entrepreneurs talk about TGIF. It tends not be part of their vocab because the ‘all done’ feeling has replaced it.
• If you’re not building something (a business, art, a valuable service etc) then a TGIF mindset is sort of inevitable. What’s there to do but celebrate making it through a long and difficult slog?
• If you are building something (a business, art, a valuable service) then it comes with the priceless bonus of the ‘all done’ feeling. Building things, over which we have a sense of real ownership produces this.
• Both the Friday feeling and the all done feeling are temporal; both give way to new challenges that will present themselves, except for a few differences:
• The all done feeling may subside, but the work that produced it remains intact, and wholly owned by its creator. This does wonders for the psyche and general motivation.
• It’s not the fruits of ones labour that produces the typical Friday Feeling, rather it’s anticipating escape from a workplace.
• When you have the ‘all done’ feeling, you can still get the TGIF high to boot. But you may opt not to, since there’s nothing to escape from and the work itself was intrinsically rewarding.
• If you haven’t got the ‘all done’ feeling, then building something of value is the fastest way to get it. Focusing on what you do best makes this possible. Jim Rohn’s maxim helps me keep this in mind: “What things we build, build us.”

If I had to choose, it’s probably clear that I prefer the ‘all done’ feeling to TGIF. The good news is I don’t — by prioritising ‘all done’ you get the benefits of both. On that note, it’s beer O’clock, I’m off.

*Of course, I’m not implying all entrepreneurs are the ‘all done’ crowd and all employees are ‘TGIF’. There are TGIF entrepreneurs and ‘all done’ employees out there too. I see you!