A Day in the Life of an HSE Project Manager: What? Is it Friday Already?

26 October 2023 🇷🇺 Original: русский 1 min read

Friday is usually the strangest day of the week. All the minor loose ends pile up in the first half of the day, while the second half is dedicated to analysis and summarizing the results.

In my view, this is the very day whose middle name is "multitasking." There are plenty of practices to help combat this plague, but we need to understand the root cause of procrastination.

Procrastination arises because you have to deal with something that seems unpleasant to you.

During this time, the areas of the brain responsible for pain are activated. However, this sensation disappears as soon as you get to work.

Procrastination is essentially a habit consisting of four parts:

  1. The Cue (what puts you into a programmed state and triggers a habitual reaction). For example, a TASK on a to-do list or even a site section with a difficult line manager or foreman during a site walkthrough.
  2. Our reaction to the cue (stereotypical behavior).
  3. The Reward (reinforcement of new behavior, a new reward).
  4. Belief — the conviction that it cannot be done any other way. A support group.

An effective way to fight procrastination is to focus on the process rather than the final result.

Traditionally, on Fridays, we hold a weekly wrap-up meeting where we summarize the week's results, analyze which tasks were completed, and decide which ones to carry over to the next period. By the way, this is a great opportunity to request resources, including administrative support.

At one time, Friday was the most dreadful day of the week for me, leaving a mark of exhaustion on the entire weekend. This was solely because my beloved team would dump all their unfinished business and problems on me during our wrap-up — overdue risks, unused IT applications, formal events, and superficial causes.

At some point, it became impossible to live like that. So, meeting offline as a team, we agreed to always start our week and each day by tackling the most unpleasant task first. And you know what? It worked! By Friday, we were left with only clear and easy tasks.)))

Expert Blog

Read articles by safety leaders

All blog articles
We use cookies to improve your experience · Cookie Notice

Join the leaders

14,000+ professionals · 128+ countries

1
Contacts
2
Profile

Registration

Tell us about yourself

Required field
Required field
Enter a valid email
Invalid number

Registration

Professional details

Required field
Required field
Required field

Please consent to newsletters. This will greatly enhance your platform experience.

Registration complete

We sent login credentials to your email. Use the password from the email to sign in.

Didn't receive the email?
Check your Spam folder
Already have an account? Sign In · Forgot password?

Welcome!

You have successfully signed in.

Don't have an account? Register · Forgot password?

Password Recovery

Enter your email to recover access

Enter a valid email

Link sent

A password reset link has been sent to the specified email. The link is valid for 1 hour.

Didn't receive the email?
Check your Spam folder
Remember your password? Sign In · Register