Don't waste your Friday: 5 ways to be productive

October 15, 2010 at 08:00 PM
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I have always found it difficult to reach people on Fridays. They are more interested in finishing up work and starting their weekend than listening to me talk about solutions. But don't let it be a wasted day. Here are five things I do to avoid wasting the last 20 percent of the work week:

1. Schedule meetings. It maybe an obvious one, but the best way to make use of your Friday is to schedule appointments in advance. This makes the day pass quickly while making the best possible use of your time.

2. Prepare or review weekly reports. Many people spend Monday morning reviewing previous weekly results or preparing for the coming week. But Mondays are always busy, and you don't need to clutter your desk with spreadsheets. Prep your reports on Friday afternoon and get it out of the way.

3. Invest time in social media. Friday afternoon is a great time to write a blog article and network on LinkedIn. This keeps you from wasting time leaving voicemails and also leaves a presence your prospects may see over the weekend.

4. Freshen up your value proposition and pitch. When was the last time you wrote your value proposition, elevator pitch and top three differentiators? Are they stale? Review, refine and possibly reposition yourself for the coming week.

5. Visit customers. If you are really burned out but would feel guilty about splitting early to hit the links, visit one of your clients. Stopping in to see a client at 4 p.m. on a Friday shows you care.

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John Scranton is an insurance agency marketing expert and vice president of StartUpSelling Inc. For more information and tips from him, go to http://startupselling.com/blogs/johnscranton.

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