Turn Hump Day into Leap Day

The concept of “hump day” has had a long history, too long in fact.

For many years employees and managers alike have talked about the importance of getting through hump day, which is Wednesday, and then getting to the weekend. Unfortunately, hump day is a career killer.

Hump Day Employees look at every week as the process of starting at the bottom of the hill on Monday morning at 8 AM, climbing to the top by Wednesday at noon, and then coasting down to the bottom of the hill by 5 o’clock on Friday. These people haven’t gotten anywhere during the course of the week. They are back where she started on Monday morning week after week after week.

Imagine a college athlete who performs exactly the same way at the beginning of every season. Those kinds of players never get off the bench, assuming they can even keep their spot on the bench. Intuitively, we know that we have to always improve if we want to take our careers to the next level, but then the reality of the workweek sets in and we sabotage ourselves with this nonsense about getting through hump day. We psychologically set ourselves up for a mediocre week and a mediocre career.

From now on make Wednesday at noon your weekly inflection point to capture key lessons and catapult to a higher level of performance over the remainder of the week. Look at the greatest performers in history. They did not rise briefly and then fall backward over and over. They leapt forward to higher and higher levels of achievement and repeated that process over and over. Study Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, and a host of other great achievers. They didn’t push forward for 52 hours and then slump backward for 52 hours. They raised their bar of achievement, and then set the bar higher again and again.

Leap Day Worksheet – To be Filled Out at Noon on Wednesday
(Maximum Time Investment – 35 Minutes)

1. Make a List of the Meetings/Activities/Events That Have Occurred So Far This Week

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

2. For each entry in step one, answer these five questions in less than five minutes:

Entry One:

a. What did I do that was effective?

b. What did I do that was not effective?

c. What could I have done to be more effective?

d. What did I learn from this experience?

e. How can I use what I learned to perform at a higher level for the remainder of this week?


Entry Two:

a. What did I do that was effective?

b. What did I do that was not effective?

c. What could I have done to be more effective?

d. What did I learn from this experience?

e. How can I use what I learned to perform at a higher level for the remainder of this week?


Entry Three:

a. What did I do that was effective?

b. What did I do that was not effective?

c. What could I have done to be more effective?

d. What did I learn from this experience?

e. How can I use what I learned to perform at a higher level for the remainder of this week?


Entry Four:

a. What did I do that was effective?

b. What did I do that was not effective?

c. What could I have done to be more effective?

d. What did I learn from this experience?

e. How can I use what I learned to perform at a higher level for the remainder of this week?


Entry Five:

a. What did I do that was effective?

b. What did I do that was not effective?

c. What could I have done to be more effective?

d. What did I learn from this experience?

e. How can I use what I learned to perform at a higher level for the remainder of this week?


Entry Six:

a. What did I do that was effective?

b. What did I do that was not effective?

c. What could I have done to be more effective?

d. What did I learn from this experience?

e. How can I use what I learned to perform at a higher level for the remainder of this week?


Entry Seven:

a. What did I do that was effective?

b. What did I do that was not effective?

c. What could I have done to be more effective?

d. What did I learn from this experience?

e. How can I use what I learned to perform at a higher level for the remainder of this week?


Do you see any common patterns on what makes you effective or ineffective?