Sneaky Tuesday and WTF Wednesday!
Alright, so here’s the deal! I’ve had a theory around Tuesday for a LONG time. This particular theory has proven itself to be true and accurate over and over agin, in both big and small ways. So without a lot of wordy build up, lets just dive into the madness pool and see if we can’t wade through it!
The most innocuous day of the week or the ultimate sneak?
Let’s face it! Tuesday is pretty blah when it comes to planning out your week. There’s not generally any BIG excitement in the work place or even home on the calendar when it comes to Tuesday. It truly the most innocuous day of the week. It just kind of sits there starring at you when you’re planning out your week. Here’s the truth though….Tuesday is a freaking SNEAK!
See Tuesday sits there watching you organize your plan of attack for Monday. Hell you even hashtag that bad boy with #motivationmonday! You’re ready to make the most of it and get your week off to a roaring start! You’re going to right all the wrongs from last week and create positive change in ALL aspects. Let’s go Monday!
Then your brain just goes “oh hey Tuesday” during your planning and moves right along to Wednesday! It’s #humpday right? Half way there and you’re planning that by the time it gets here you’re going to be rocking and rolling. Things are going to be right on track thanks to your Monday plan (you forgot Tuesday) and you’ll be cruising for the week!
Thursday? Well according to your plan, that by the way we totally forgot about Tuesday still, you should be at about a 70-80% completion rate at your weekly global domination. You’re planning to start closing the loop on your perfectly laid plans, maybe grab a meeting or two, and get everyone fired up for Friday!
Then there we are, according to your meticulous planning (minus Tuesday of course) the end is in sight. It’s #TGIF and because the rest of the week went according to plan you are not only done with everything you set out to do but WAY AHEAD. Heck you even get to wrap up early for the weekend!!
Here’s what actually happens unfortunately. Despite your best intentions, Mr. “don’t mind me” Tuesday had other plans! Tuesday almost ALWAYS goes from a weekly placeholder between Monday and Wednesday, to the most reactive day of your week.
Murphy’s law is in full effect for about 18 out of 24 hours on Tuesday. From the second your alarm goes off until your exhausted head hits the pillow it seems like. Then like any good horror movie, maybe a kid or a dog provides one last jump scare around 11:53pm. Just for good measure!
The worst part is its often times NOTHING you could have seen coming! Truly it’s almost like the universe said flat out “NO” to 60% of your amazing plans from Monday for the week. Even small things that are generally a given decide that Tuesday is a good day to revolt against you!
It’s what I’ve called the “Curse of Tuesday” for the last 20 years. Well at least that’s when I decided to name it! I’m sure if I thought about it, it was always happening!
Now that the total “cluster” that was Tuesday is over and the sun rises on Wednesday, all your shabooya has been zapped! You can barely muster the strength to post you #humpdayvibes selfie on social media! Your halfway there motivation has taken a turn and all you can really say is WTF Wednesday?
Now let’s be clear. You’re not blaming Wednesday, not at all. You and Wednesday are both victims here. Tuesday, that sneak is who’s really to blame!
You just feel generally drained and instead of thinking “we’re halfway there” you’re left thinking “crap! only halfway there”.
You’re 100% correct! This is typically the part of my writing that I’d offer some tidbit of knowledge from my experience on how to prevent this. Maybe share a strategy for dealing with it. You know, some profound breakthrough shit! Not this time. No real sciencey solution backed by research.
What I can share is a true story that happened TWICE last week with two separate clients. Both sessions were on Wednesday and both had had their asses thoroughly kicked by Tuesday!
As I sometimes do in session I just sat and listened. I absorbed everything they had to say, let them vent, and purge every single thing that had gone wrong. I let them have what I so eloquently call “diarrhea of the mouth”. Then when they finally got it all out, both of them looked at me with that “well how do I fix this” look.
Initially they were both a little surprised by my response. I simply looked at them both and said “Yep! That sucks!”. That was it and in a moment both clients expressions totally changed. In both sessions the clients started laughing and you could see the relief come over them.
You see sometimes all we need is to have someone acknowledge when things suck! We may not always need some whiz bang solution or strategy. We might just need someone to align with us and show a little empathy. Someone to commiserate with is often all we need to realize we’re not in this maelstrom alone.
I can tell you that is so often what I do in my coaching practice. Sometimes clients just need someone to validate that they’re not going crazy and that sometimes things simply SUCK!!
So the next time you see someone looking like Robin Williams halfway through Jumanji on a Wednesday morning, take a minute to listen. Remind them they are not in the fight alone and that YEP, Tuesday is a sneaky bastard!!
