The Most Stressful Time of the Week

I was reading an interesting article this morning which may help explain why so many people get stressed out on Tuesday's. It seems that the British did a study in which they found that the average worker was most stressed at around 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday's more than on any other day. The reason behind this is that Monday's are usually spent in catching up with co-workers or associates on the activities of the weekend and is usually seen as a slower time of the week due to the fact that everyone is catching up on their social networking. It seems that by around 11:45 on Tuesday morning however, everyone has caught up and now realizes what all they have to accomplish for the week and that's usually what seems to get many people in a tizzy.

Now while I realize that this study is meant to show a sample group as opposed to the total working population, I couldn't help but take this analysis a little farther. I've been working in various capacities since about 1992 and in that time I've come to a realization. I think that the findings by scientists with regard to stress times on Tuesday's does make sense but I don't think it ends there. Stress may peak around Wednesday which is when you realize you're halfway through the week and you haven't accomplished half the things you wanted to accomplish to that point. Many silently curse themselves for having wasted Monday on simply socializing and not getting started sooner. Although some people thrive under the pressure of looming deadlines, not everyone is prone to being happy under such circumstances.

By the time we get around to Thursday people are really on pins and nails as they continue trying to work through their assignments. But that's when something strange starts to happen. It's something I've noticed for many years and it was something that I felt even in school. If there's a looming Friday deadline most people will be working like fiends on Thursday to finish it off but by the time Thursday afternoon rolls around, people tend to get very... laid back. Again, I won't say that this is a uniform feeling among any and all workers but it is something you could probably see for yourself. People tend to relax because they know that Friday is here so it's almost time for the weekend.

Friday is the one day where another period of socializing happens again. Most people tend to spend a large portion of the day planning for the weekend or easing themselves into that mindset. Casual dress in offices on these days only perpetuates the sensation. Plus the feeling that now that the weekend is upon us, work can be left behind and forgotten for at least two days. If the Friday in question is before the start of a long weekend you can fully expect this to be in full swing by about the time most people are getting their first cup of coffee. If the long weekend in question begins on a Friday then you can move the whole process back a day.

It's odd to think of so many people getting stressed out on this one day only to likely lose that urgency within a few days given the fact that two days off are looming. It's a cycle that has probably been part of the office environment since cavemen were the ones in the office. If you think about it, whether you're in school or in the workplace, the tendency and attitudes are more or less the same. And though I'm still a few hours away from the 'most stressful time of the week' I'm still trying to keep things in check and know that within a few days it will be back to easing into the weekend.