Are you embracing Summer Fridays?

Last week, I had two canceled calls on Friday afternoon and realized that summer had arrived. People don't want to be stuck behind a computer on Zoom on Fridays. (Including me!)?

That was just the reminder that I needed to decide to honor “Summer Fridays.”?

In case you haven't heard of the term, Summer Fridays are when a company gives employees extra time during the summer months to enjoy a day off or a half day to relax. What started as a "corporate thing" is now a practice that a lot of solopreneurs and small business owners are adapting between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Tekira and I decided to kick off our Summer Fridays this Friday, July 5th-August 31st. We've done it before. When we had a bigger team, everyone picked their "day" to be out of the office during the summer based on their workload and meeting schedules. That also worked well for us at that time. ?If you need ideas on finding your version, keep reading!?

Finding Balance When You Can't Take Full Days Off

I know that not all businesses can take a full day off from work each week, especially in this economy! Even if you can't take a full day, check out these alternatives to fit your needs this season. Trust that taking the time away that you need will help restore you more than “pushing through” and not having healthy boundaries with your work ever will.?

If you're unable to take the day off, consider trying one of these options.

? #NoMeetingFridays: If you have to work on Fridays, can you block off your calendar for a quiet, deep work day? Interrupting your flow for meetings can feel unproductive. Try limiting your meeting availability to Monday-Thursday and see if that helps you.

?Consider taking a longer lunch break. A two-hour break in the middle of your day could be just what you need. You can use this time to take a nap, enjoy a longer lunch, take the kids to the park, or take a walk around the neighborhood (unless you're in Texas, where it's too hot!).

? Log off at 12! If you have tasks to do on Fridays, consider working for 2-3 hours and focus on priority work only. Schedule your emails for Monday morning, and then log off.

?What about every 2 weeks? What about having every other Friday off if every Friday isn't possible? This could provide a good balance and a break from the screen.

? Okay, maybe Fridays are not an option. Choose a different day! If Tuesdays are less busy and you don't have meetings, for instance, that could be your Summer day. You might want to choose another day of the week that fits with the activities you enjoy. For example, if your community offers Yoga and live music at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, that would be the perfect summer day!

It's all about finding a flow that works for you; there is no one way to embrace the concept. Bottomline: make it your own and get out of the house this Summer.

Will productivity suffer if I give my team the day off?

If you're concerned about the possibility of losing revenue, project delays, or not having enough coverage, remember the big picture!

A team that feels valued will show up even better when they are given perks like Summer Fridays. Now, if they are already struggling with productivity, you'll have to address that, but a day off isn't going to be why something slips. As I shared earlier, when we were a team of 6 with a full client load, we couldn't all take Friday off. So, instead, I let everyone pick their own day based on workload/meetings, and we added it to our team calendar to remind everyone. That worked really well for us.

The Ops girlie in me has to ask: Where does your worry about productivity slipping come from? There is always a root to our worries. Maybe you need more clarity on what your team is doing currently vs what they should be doing to hit the milestones you expect from them. Our workflow discovery process uncovers everything, from a division of labor issue to where team members lack clarity and the resources they need. If that sounds like what you need, schedule a call with me here.?

How to implement Summer Fridays this week!

I hope this newsletter has inspired you to implement Summer Fridays. I have a few action items so you can make this happen this week!

• Take a look at your meeting schedule trends and consider your workload.
• How can you make Monday through Thursday more productive so Friday doesn't become a backup plan? Create deep work blocks for yourself and use agendas to make meetings (even internal ones) more productive.
• Reschedule any standing meetings that you may have on Fridays.
• Create an OOO Summer Fridays calendar, set it as busy, and schedule it weekly on Friday from your start date to your end date. You can even have it decline any new meetings with an auto-reply if you want.
• Notify any clients if you need to of this change, the dates, and so on.

If you enjoyed this article, I share a new one each week with my email list about team building, improving team operations, and building systems. You can sign up here to receive them directly in your inbox each week or learn more about our services at thedigitaljane.com.

Until next time, have a great and relaxing holiday week!