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It was Friday in the office and everyone was feeling a bit peckish, with a traditional chippy nearby how could anyone say no to a bit of fried fish and salt and vinegar chips.

Subconsciously you may already be planning your next trip to your local fish and chip shop, but a word of warning, be careful what portion size you ask for! Is it going to be a regular or, if you’re feeling super hungry (or brave) will you ask for a large?

A colleague of mine mistook his lunchtime hunger for “I haven’t eaten for days”, and thus dived in for a large portion of the finest sliced potatoes and battered fish the land and sea has to offer. As we tucked into our Friday treats, I saw my colleague’s struggles, yet there seemed to a glimmer of hope that he may just conquer this mammoth task. And then it hit me... The struggles of consuming a large portion of fish and chips is synonymous to the mental challenges of the working week.

The First Bite/Monday

When you are extremely hungry, that first bite will always tastes heavenly. With such glorious treats in front you, an overwhelming sense of confidence exudes. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Monday! A new week, a new day, a renewed sense of confidence ready to tackle new challenges that will come your way. The dream is for a nice and easy week, quickly dissolving into the weekend. And having just come off a relaxing weekend it can be so easy to take Monday as a warm-up for the week. It is best to tackle the more difficult tasks as soon as possible on the first day of the week, so that when your mind becomes as full as your stomach, the rest becomes plain sailing due to the easier nature of tasks on hand. 

Keep it going/Tuesday

You seem to think you have it under control. You believe you will conquer the fish. You are sure you will devour the chips. You are satisfied the first session was productive. That is essentially your Monday summed up. A new day, it's Tuesday you are confident you can eat up the rest of the week, and your large lunch! The renewed energy still lingers, you know the task at hand and have a strategy in place. But compared to Monday the hunger may be lacking, in more ways than one, but you know today is the day to make your week a truly great week. So get your head down, focus on your responsibilities and strategically execute your plan for the day to make the remainder of the week much less of a headache.

Things seem to be slowing down/Wednesday

Its Wednesday, the halfway point of the week, leaving you on your tiptoes trying to get the best view of what the weekend potentially has to offer. It can be argued that Wednesdays make or break the week. If you’re too focused on the unknown of the weekend, then you lose track of your responsibilities of the week, which often do carry over into the next. On the other hand, if you are focused and determined to make the nearby future easier, then Wednesdays are a breeze. So despite what your stomach is telling you, ask yourself this, should I ease up and save some for later or do plough through to leave as little as possible for later. All in all reaching the finish line with some comfort.

Under the rubble or on top of the mound/Thursday

If Wednesday was bad then from your own doing Thursday is going to be terrible. Or alternatively if your Wednesday was a good one then Thursday will make you feel like you have almost reached the peak of a high mountain. At this point you have left more than crumbs but less than a heap of your delicious, local, traditional fish and chips. This is the day where not only you can end your week on a high but also lay the foundations for an even better next week. Translated to fish and chip talk, you can enjoy your lunch so much that it will be some time before your next trip to the local chippy and open up doors to enjoy other cuisines. Do not give up here, keep moving on, the end is in sight! 

Conquered/Friday

The moment you have been waiting for since you unwrapped your fresh large fish and chips, the day you have been waiting for since Monday. With the end almost in sight, the last lingering smells of grease slowly dispersing into the environment being replaced with the refreshing smell of weekend joys. Submit the last bit of work, lap up the last remaining bit of ketchup with your chip, save the important documents on your computers and throw away the fish and chip paper wrappers. The end has arrived, the mountain of the food has been conquered. The great start with the persistence of continue when it seems an impossible task is the key to having a great week at work.

Use that lemon slice

Almost every fish and chip shop gives you a slice of lemon to squirt the fresh juice over your food for that extra tingle to your every bite. Planning the week ahead is a great way to ensure all deadlines are met with great results and that nothing spills into the next week to cause disruptions. It gives you the focus and direction of what must be achieved on a day to day basis so that the best possible outcome can be reached. So the next time you sit at your desk on a Monday morning, just think how you would eat your large portion of fish and chips and attack your work as you would the nation’s favourite dish!