Thursday is the real hump day

Celebrate the real mid-point of the week.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about a mindset shift that can help
you rethink your weeks and the whole concept of work
life balance. Many years ago, when I first had people

(00:24):
track their time, I realized that I needed to design
a workable spreadsheet that I could use for my research.
I elected to put the days of the week across
the top, Monday to Sunday, and then half hour blocks
down the left hand side. To make sure the time
log captured the way people think about their days. I
had the half hour blocks start at five am and

(00:44):
go to four thirty am. If you haven't had your
coffee yet. I know it's a little early to be
talking about spreadsheets, so don't worry. You don't really need
the exact dimensions. All this means is that on my
time logs, the week starts Monday at five am. I
think Monday at five am is a defensible starting point
for the week. Anyway, This time log represents the hundred

(01:06):
sixty eight hour week, and I soon noticed something when
I had filled out several days representing what seemed like
a lot of time up to Thursday. At five pm,
the end of the day, half the spreadsheet was still blank.
In other words, if your week starts at five am Monday,

(01:27):
then five pm Thursday is the midpoint of the week. Now.
I don't know about you, but I'd always thought of
five pm Thursday is sounding like the end of the week.
But it isn't. It's the exact halfway mark. If I
put a pin in my time log at around five
pm Thursday, it would balance there's just as much time
after as there is before. Now. To be sure, for

(01:50):
most people, there are a few more hours devoted to
sleep in the second half of the week, but it's
not as much of a difference as you might think.
I ran the calculation recently with a thirty bedtime and
a daily six am wake up, and the midpoint for
waking hours still fell in the afternoon on Thursday. It
wasn't anywhere close to Wednesday. The reason this matters is

(02:10):
we have a tendency to discount time that doesn't happen
Monday to end of day Thursday. A consultant who flies
to client sites Monday morning and flies home Thursday afternoon
might speak of traveling all the time. But this is
not all the time, it's only about half of the time.
Someone who logs long hours in the beginning of the

(02:31):
week might talk of never being home in the evening,
but if he's home in the evening Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday, that's actually over half the week. He's there
more nights than he's not. Your work life balance is
probably pretty work heavy Monday through end of day Thursday,
but it's probably pretty life heavy in the second half
of the week. Indeed, it's possible these two balances start

(02:55):
to balance each other out. What I love about this
realization is that this mindset helps us honor the weekend.
If Wednesday is the hump day of the week, then
the weekend is an afterthought. It's two days tacked on
to the end of the real days. But when Thursday
is the midpoint of the week, we see that Friday, Saturday,

(03:16):
and Sunday are real days too. They represent a big
chunk of our time. I know the shift has helped
me take my weekends more seriously. It's encouraged me to
think through what I'd like to do and at least
attempt to deal with the logistics. Knowing where the real
midpoint of the week. Lies helps us appreciate time in

(03:38):
all its fullness. So how will you celebrate Thursday, the
real midpoint of the week. Let's all try to remember
to raise a toast to all the time that's yet
to come. In the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

(04:02):
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast

(04:25):
is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.