Friday, the new Sunday

My entire life I was sure that there were 5 days in a week, and 2 days in a weekend. However, when I got to college I learned quite quickly that there were 4 days in a week, and 3 days in a weekend.

I am talking about Thursday, what used to be a day of school, or work, with another day right behind it is now affectionately referred to as “Thirsty Thursday” at campuses across the nation. I didn’t realize why this was at first, but as college progressed, I got the point.

For one reason or another there are rarely classes scheduled Fridays. So what do you do as a freshman in college if there are no obligations the next day? Obviously, you go out drinking. However, the problem with this, is that it becomes habitual. I remember my freshman year. Every Thursday during the fall I would get out of my Biology 101 lab, go get dinner, and get back to the dorm in time to throwback some pregame beers, and watch the O.C. (link) with my buddies. Those were great times, in my mind, and I made some great bonds with people over those beers, they became part of my weekend crew for a whole year.

As college progressed, “Thirsty Thursday” remained a large part of my life, and was always a time to get together with your buddies, and drink. However, I realized at the beginning of last year that I needed to change my routine, because Friday became one of the most unproductive days of week.

I decided that I needed to fill my Fridays with meetings, or classes, anything that would be an obligation. So that is exactly what I did. Ever since then, I have had a class on Friday, and if possible, I would make sure that it was before 9 a.m.

Also, I have set up all of the meetings that I can on Fridays. Not only did I set up regular meetings with restaurant and bar owners, but I set up meetings that I needed to be prepared for. This would accomplish two tasks at once. It would make sure I was not hung over on Friday, and it gave me something to do Thursday night.

Since I began doing this, and getting rid of the normal drinking routine, I have accomplished a lot more work on a regular basis. Now I can get all of my work done on Friday, so I can take Sunday to relax, and sleep away the weekend.

This was a very important change in my regular routine, and is something that benefits me all of the time, I don’t know if this was your habit in college, but if so, do you miss it? Because sometimes, I do.