Matt Rutherford
Matt Rutherford
Ideas | Growth | Clarity
⌘K
Work with Matt
Matt Rutherford
Career

Friday Closedown Ritual

A Friday Closedown Ritual helps you hit Monday morning fully prepared AND lets you enjoy the weekend.
A shop sign that says 'sorry we're closed, but still awesome' - like you!
Photo by Tim Mossholder / Unsplash

One of the best in the business, Nicholas Bate puts it really well:

Never let a Friday finish before a plan for the next Monday. Oh boy, will you appreciate your tenacity and wisdom on Monday morning. 

Starting a regular closedown ritual helps clear your mind at the end of the week AND sets you up for the following week.

Ensuring you have captured open loops, and starting some planning for the following week means that you can start Monday morning positively. A bonus benefit is that you can eliminate Sunday Scaries, but knowing you have Monday morning in the bag.

I've been developing my Friday Closedown ritual for a while, and when I'm consistent, this is an essential part of my routine.

See my routine below.

My Weekly Shutdown Routine Template

As a side note, I use an Apple Note with these steps in it.

1. Reflect & Give Thanks for the Past Week (5–10 Minutes)

  • What went well? 1 or 2 wins, no matter how big or small
  • What challenges or blockers did I face?
  • Did I accomplish what I set out to do? Why or why not?
  • Who do I need to thank this week? Team or stakeholders - send some immediate thanks (email or DM)

2. Review Task List (5–10 Minutes)

  • What tasks did I complete?
  • Which tasks are still outstanding? What needs to be carried forward and allocated time.
  • Are there any tasks I can delegate or defer?.

3. Set Priorities and Timeboxes for the Coming Week (5 Minutes)

  • What are my top 3–5 priorities for next week? How much time do I need to allocate for each of these? I try to make sure that these have blocked time on my Calendar.
  • Are there any deadlines or appointments I need to prepare for? These need to have time allocated.
  1. Write weekly team post (15 Minutes). This is my weekly 'Top of Mind' message to my team. Pro-tip - I keep a rolling document for this, and add things as I think of them during the week, so this is really a 'tidy and post' exercise.
  2. Clear Down Inboxes - Email and Instant Messages (10 Minutes)
    Don't let ANYTHING 'nag' you over the weekend, clear down the last open loops.
  3. Plan for improvement (5 minutes)
  • What’s one small action I can take to improve my efficiency or workflow this week?
  1. Shut down the work computer and don't look back until Monday!

TOTAL TIME SPENT - approx 1 hour (blocked every Friday afternoon)

Member discussion

More like this

You already had them

You already had them

You turned down that job three years ago and never quite explained why. There was a reason. You just never wrote it down.
Who you would stop being?

Who you would stop being?

You have run the numbers twice and they work. That was never the problem.
Whose definition?

Whose definition?

You are not stuck. You are moving fast in a direction you never chose.
You already know

You already know

You know what you are going to do. What stops you is who you think you owe.
Still good at it

Still good at it

You are the one people come to, now name the last thing this job taught you.
Nothing is Wrong

Nothing is Wrong

Unhappy people leave. Comfortable people stay for five years and call it fine.