Need to Manage Your Relationships? Consider Friendly Fridays.

So I’ve developed a new plan, a new workflow and I thought I’d share it with you in hopes it might help you but also in request for feedback.

As an introvert, meeting with people can sometimes be draining. It’s never draining in the moment, it’s actually quite enjoyable. It’s only draining later. If I travel and meet with people, I find I’m no good in the office for at least two days, and often three. If I give a conference, it will be ten days before my brain returns to normal.

I’ll be traveling less in the coming year so I can write two books, but the pressures to “get together” are still pretty furious here in Portland. I’d say every day I get about ten invitations to get coffee. Often, these are old friends of people I’ve done business with. Most of them are people I’d like to spend time with. Still, the choice is between hanging out and talking or having a productive week.

When writing, I can’t have anything else on the schedule. You never know when the words are going to hit. Being a writer is like taking pictures of weather. You have to be there, but so does the weather. If either of you don’t show up, the day is a loss. So, the key to writing is to always be there and hope the weather shows up too.

That said, sometimes the weather shows up about ten minutes before you agreed to get together with somebody. That means the writing day is ruined.

So here’s the new plan. I schedule all my meetings on Friday. I get it all done right before the weekend. The weekend can be spent with friends, too, but it can also be spent resting and getting ready for Monday.

I am even considering only returning phone calls and e-mails on Friday, too. That way the whole rest of the week can be spent writing and getting work done.

Monday, for me, is the most productive day of the week. I HATE meetings on Mondays because they fall right in the middle of my most efficient time. Whenever I see a Monday meeting on the calendar, my heart sinks.

What would your week look like if you only scheduled meetings on Fridays? Would it improve?

Need to Manage Your Relationships? Consider Friendly Fridays. is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog