The Five Types of Workdays
A new study tracked more than 200 workers for months, and found there are FIVE different types of workdays. No matter what kind of day you have at work, it fits into one of them. Here’s a list of the five types of workdays & what they mean:
1. Typical. Mostly smooth sailing without many bumps. You’re not crushing it, but you’re also not slacking. 34% of days fit into this category.
2. Ideal. You’re more productive than a typical day, but not overwhelmed. You might still have deadlines, but they’re achievable. 29% of workdays.
3. Crisis. Lots of fires to put out. You might feel rushed or get interrupted a lot. So you can’t really focus or excel. 19% of workdays.
4. Disengaged. These are the days when you’re just not feeling it. Maybe you waste an hour on Instagram. Sometimes it’s just an off-day. But it can also come from not having any urgent deadlines to keep you motivated. 10% of workdays.
5. Toxic. This is when it’s a REALLY bad day. Your boss is being a jerk, you argued with a coworker or something else is just annoying you so much, you can’t be productive. 8% of workdays.
This part of the study is interesting, too: They found that most of the factors that determine the type of day you’ll have tend to be outside of your control. So there’s not always a lot you can do about it.
It usually has less to do with you, and more to do with your boss, your clients/customers, or what’s being thrown at you on that particular day.
The study also found we tend to have multiples of the same day back-to-back. So, you might have three typical days in a row, then a couple ideal days, followed by a day or two where everything’s a crisis.
