NOT a Midlife Crisis: Living for Friday
Today while I was chatting with a friend/co-worker in the office and we were sort of both joking about doing just the most basic work because it was Friday, I kind of wondered why we feel like we have to pretend that it's a joke. Was it Friday? Yeah. Did that mean we were going to put less effort into our work? Not really. Maybe some people have jobs where that works for them, but I don't. What we do have the ability to do, is be a little more playful at work... but we only feel like that works on Fridays. Because it's the last day of the week.
It's such an ephemeral thing, too. Like, yes we're about to stay home for two days. That doesn't mean Monday is going to be any different and honestly, Monday is when we should be having more fun.
Monday is when we need fun at work the most.
This is how they get us though. The ever-present "man" keeps us working for a weekend, so we shop and spend and try to forget that we've got to go back on Monday. Then, on Monday, we're so conditioned to think about how awful it is. We're away from our house, kids, pets, or whatever it is you're missing when you're at work. And it's only the start of several days in a row where we're going to feel that way.
Only not quite.
See Monday is the worst. And everything in pop culture about work life informs us of the awfulness of Mondays.
Tuesday is Monday, part two.
Wednesday is like our half-birthday. It's a nothing day in the middle of the week. Yet it has a fun name like 'hump day' to remind us that the work week is a hill. It starts sucky and Wednesday is when it can't possibly be worse. It's the weekly climax of shitty days. It serves only to remind us that Friday is on its way.
Thursday is Monday, part three. Or, as most people prefer: pre-Friday.
We remind ourselves on Thursdays that we can do anything for another day. Especially when the next day is Friday.
And Friday. Well, that's what got me here in the first place.
Friday sets us up for a weekend of indulgence and freedom. It's why we do the other four days. So we can flip the bird as we exit at five p.m. and forget we have a job for two days.
Oh, we don't all do that?
Of course not. One -- especially if you have a long-term employer -- you likely want to keep, or need to keep that job for one reason or another. And Two -- well, we don't all hate our jobs.
So if you can't be lucky enough to be part of the group in the second point, then what do you do?
Pretty sure this is where media has made sure to show us how in their late-forties that most middle-aged white cis-gendered men have the dreaded so-called "midlife crisis".
See, back in the day of my parents and their parents, you might only have just ONE job for...ever. And if you think of the work week in this sort of traditional cycle of boredom and duty, then boy howdy is it gonna suck. Of course you're going to hate it. You get to your forties and it's like the Wednesday of your whole life.
These days we're far more likely to break-down long before we're forty. Because we have shit politicians or assloads of debt or because everywhere we look we're not: smart/experienced/good-looking/rich enough. Pretty sure as much as our parents wanted us to be rewarded for everything ever, we've learned quickly how to deal with disappointment. Not too mention, the definition of a full-time job or long-term employment is changing rapidly. Jobs like mine won't exist forever. Kids are learning to become entrepreneurs at eleven and twelve. Hell, there's a four year old on YouTube making money hand over fist. (Godspeed to his parents.)
What I'm getting at here is that there's something to this whole work week perception. Whether you work Monday-Friday, full-time, part-time, for someone else or for yourself.
Perception is everything. Instead of living for Friday, living for those precious few minutes we get to indulge, maybe we just live. We don't all have to love our jobs. But we should see them for what they are: a means to an end.
Go in happy.
Leave happy.
Just make sure to define (realistically) what happy means to you, and work to make it happen.
It's such an ephemeral thing, too. Like, yes we're about to stay home for two days. That doesn't mean Monday is going to be any different and honestly, Monday is when we should be having more fun.
Monday is when we need fun at work the most.
This is how they get us though. The ever-present "man" keeps us working for a weekend, so we shop and spend and try to forget that we've got to go back on Monday. Then, on Monday, we're so conditioned to think about how awful it is. We're away from our house, kids, pets, or whatever it is you're missing when you're at work. And it's only the start of several days in a row where we're going to feel that way.
Only not quite.
See Monday is the worst. And everything in pop culture about work life informs us of the awfulness of Mondays.
Tuesday is Monday, part two.
Wednesday is like our half-birthday. It's a nothing day in the middle of the week. Yet it has a fun name like 'hump day' to remind us that the work week is a hill. It starts sucky and Wednesday is when it can't possibly be worse. It's the weekly climax of shitty days. It serves only to remind us that Friday is on its way.
Thursday is Monday, part three. Or, as most people prefer: pre-Friday.
We remind ourselves on Thursdays that we can do anything for another day. Especially when the next day is Friday.
And Friday. Well, that's what got me here in the first place.
Friday sets us up for a weekend of indulgence and freedom. It's why we do the other four days. So we can flip the bird as we exit at five p.m. and forget we have a job for two days.
Oh, we don't all do that?
Of course not. One -- especially if you have a long-term employer -- you likely want to keep, or need to keep that job for one reason or another. And Two -- well, we don't all hate our jobs.
So if you can't be lucky enough to be part of the group in the second point, then what do you do?
Pretty sure this is where media has made sure to show us how in their late-forties that most middle-aged white cis-gendered men have the dreaded so-called "midlife crisis".
See, back in the day of my parents and their parents, you might only have just ONE job for...ever. And if you think of the work week in this sort of traditional cycle of boredom and duty, then boy howdy is it gonna suck. Of course you're going to hate it. You get to your forties and it's like the Wednesday of your whole life.
These days we're far more likely to break-down long before we're forty. Because we have shit politicians or assloads of debt or because everywhere we look we're not: smart/experienced/good-looking/rich enough. Pretty sure as much as our parents wanted us to be rewarded for everything ever, we've learned quickly how to deal with disappointment. Not too mention, the definition of a full-time job or long-term employment is changing rapidly. Jobs like mine won't exist forever. Kids are learning to become entrepreneurs at eleven and twelve. Hell, there's a four year old on YouTube making money hand over fist. (Godspeed to his parents.)
What I'm getting at here is that there's something to this whole work week perception. Whether you work Monday-Friday, full-time, part-time, for someone else or for yourself.
Perception is everything. Instead of living for Friday, living for those precious few minutes we get to indulge, maybe we just live. We don't all have to love our jobs. But we should see them for what they are: a means to an end.
Go in happy.
Leave happy.
Just make sure to define (realistically) what happy means to you, and work to make it happen.
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