I wish it was Friday already. How can I get out of this rut?

I don’t know why, but the thought enters my head and I can’t stop thinking about it. Is it that I am exhausted that I keep saying to myself “I wish it was Friday”?

Am I bored? People I work with often say it – I just think it. And is it wrong to wish for the weekend?

Negative thinking is more contagious than swine flu. When one person says a negative thing – it can have a very negative impact on others they work with.

Isn’t it sad that you can be feeling so good – and one small email, maybe even a sentence, can set your mood tumbling. Maybe a back handed compliment, or a sarcastic remark supposedly said in jest… maybe it’s just someone muttering to themselves.

It’s the negativity that somehow takes hold and wipes away the motivation, that productive mood, that good feeling about life and work.

Surely we are not so finely tuned that we can be knocked about by minor comments or lack of comments about our work.

Worse still is if we are managing others and we are moody. If you lead a team you have to get rid of bad moods and overreactions, because it is too easy to pass on the bad mood, the bored feelings, the disappointment and even the anger to others.

You have likely fallen into the land of negativity that I call the ‘Negative Land of W’ – wishing, wallowing and probably wasting time. The issue here is:
1. You are not working well if you feel this way.
2. You are infecting others with your negative comments or negative body language.
3. You are denying it is a problem.
4. It can get a lot worse.
5. You are not taking control to make some changes.

I have seen people start with a bit of negativity, boredom or anger and it can move to a serious problem where the negative thinking patterns take over and a person is all consumed with anger, resentment and an inability to move on.

So it may just start with a seemingly innocuous “I wish it was Friday”, but if not managed, can turn into hatred for the job, boredom and lack of achievement or even depression…. Yes depression. A person’s thinking starts to shut down to two or three major phrases… like:

• I can’t do this anymore.
• I have had enough… I can’t cope anymore.
• It’s all too much.

The important thing is to recognise your own thinking patterns are more negative than positive and then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Go away for a day, take some time out and make a commitment to yourself to change the way you think.

If you are in the midst of a conflict, focus on the greater vision of where you are aligned and try to make a resolution come about. If you are tired and burnt out, then make some changes and start telling others some positive things about your work and your life.

And if those words slip out – “I wish it was Friday” – laugh out loud and say it will be Friday soon enough and I will make the time pass quickly because I am going to enjoy my work, I am going to enjoy the people I work with and I am going to get some good work done I am proud of.

Take control and turn your negative thinking around – and when you are into the ‘Positive Land of W” – watch the people around you brighten up.

Do you think negative thoughts like these? Diagnose yourself!

• I wish it wasn’t Monday.
• I wish it was Friday.
• I wish I was on holiday.
• I hate this job.
• I’m bored.
• I’ve had enough.
• This makes me sick.
• This is pathetic.
• I wish I wasn’t here.

Watch a clip of Getting Motivated.

Eve Ash is author of Rewrite Your Life! and Rewrite Your Relationships! and producer of the DVD Leadership Sins, a 2009 release from the DIFFICULT PEOPLE & SITUATIONS series by SEVEN DIMENSIONS www.7dimensions.com.au

For more Eve Ash advice, click here.