With today being Friday (TGIF!!!), I thought I’d put together a list of five things that are ideal to do on a Friday.

Here’s the list:

1. “Extended” lunch - If you’re planning to take a lunch that might take longer than usual, Friday is an excellent day to plan it for. Usually Friday’s are pretty slow anyways, so an extra half an hour or so at lunch shouldn’t make a difference. For example, you could schedule lunch with a friend you haven’t seen in awhile, or go to a nicer place than usual. Also, Friday is a great day to go to a place you don’t get to go to very often, maybe because it takes a little longer to get to. Here’s a tip: Plan ahead. If you need to drive there, make sure that somebody drives to work that day. If you need to take the Metro, subway, etc. take a look at the train schedules ahead of time.

2. Afternoon doctor’s appointments - This doesn’t always work out, and is highly dependent on what kind of doctor you’re seeing. However, if you can swing it, try to schedule your doctor’s appointments on Friday afternoons. With any luck, the doctor won’t take that long and you can take the rest of the afternoon off or work from home for the rest of the day. A good time frame to target is 1:00-3:00, depending on how far away your doctor is. One great time to do this is when you need to schedule an appointment with your dentist.

3. Afternoon car appointments - In a similar vein as the previous point, if you need to have work done on your car Friday afternoon is a great time to get it done. Word of caution here though, make sure to make an appointment, as Friday afternoons can be killer at the auto shop. If you walk in, chances are you could wait in line for hours.

4. Planning for next week - What???? How did this sneak in here you say? While it doesn’t really fit with the first three points, it is absolutely necessary to make your work life smoother. At the end of the week, you have a good grasp of what you accomplished that week and what still needs to be done, right off the top of your head. However, when you let a weekend pass by, all of those tasks tend to blur together on Monday. That’s why taking an hour on Friday to plan out the next week of work can save you two hours or more of planning on Monday.

5. Hitting the gym - If you plan on working out, Friday is an absolutely necessary day to have in your schedule. Here’s a personal example: I work out five days a week on average, mixing up cardio and weights. If I can do this Monday through Friday, then I can take the weekend off. However, if I get to Friday and decide to skip, then I have to make it up on Saturday. This all depends on how rigorous your workout schedule is, but if it comes down to working out on Friday or Saturday, I’d rather get it over with on Friday.

Could you do any of these activities during the other days of the week? Of course, however it just seems that Friday works out better. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.