Productivity is high on the agenda for most business leaders, but determining which day your workforce reaches their maximum productivity level is near impossible. How do you maximise your productivity, and what exactly is the most productive day of the week?
Monday Blues?
According to some experts, Monday is our most productive day overall. Productivity coach Deb Lee says: “we tend to tackle our work week-by-week, which means Monday can often be less stressful than say a Thursday or a Friday, when those end-of-week deadlines are approaching. That stress-free, clean-slate feeling on Monday morning can inspire creativity and boost productivity.”
Energetic Tuesday
However, other statistics claim Tuesday is the most productive day of the week. According to a recent survey of human resources managers by Accountemps, Tuesday is the day where we are at our “peek productivity level” and will generally have the most energy to complete the majority of our tasks. The report also suggests Tuesday is the best day to tackle that big project. Also, interestingly enough, Tuesday is the day most people will apply for a job. Perhaps we’re most motivated to get stuff done early in the week?
Hump Day Wednesday
Not convinced? How about Wednesday, aka Hump Day? According to smartsheet, an online collaboration tool, it’s actually Wednesday when we reach our best potential. Their stats show users are creating 10% more activity on Wednesday than other days, claiming “Wednesday is your best bet for maximum productivity”. They also claim that Wednesday is the best day for employee collaboration, with a 12% increase of online sharing.
Wind Down Friday
Then there is time management expert Laura Vanderkam, who says Friday should be the most productive day of the week! She claims instead of winding down and preparing for the weekend, we should be planning for the week ahead, setting ourselves up for long-term success: “If you spend just a few minutes of your Friday planning for the week ahead, then you can transform time normally wasted on meaningless activities into the most productive moments of your week.”
Activity-Based Working
Clearly, there is no consensus here! All employees are different, so can we definitively claim there is a most productive day? No. However, what we can do is offer our workforce the right space to be productive: enter the concept of activity-based working.
Activity based working, or ABW, provides your workforce with a range of settings for a variety of different activities. Individuals can choose their preferred location for their day’s activities, whether that be a desk, meeting room, booth, huddle room, or a collaboration zone.
ABW is designed to give employees the freedom to focus on their activities in the right space to be productive. Don’t put restrictions on your employees, and don’t expect everyone to work in exactly the same way – after all, the diversity of our personalities and approaches to business is what yields creativity, innovation and hard work.
