On the seventh day he shut himself up.
For some employees, slaving away on Sundays to get ahead of the week can be a necessity, or perhaps a fun way to get ready for the barrage of messages and calls on Monday morning.
Yet it also comes at a price, he said executive coach Shane Arthur.
“The idea is that if you screw up the preparation on Sunday night, the week goes so well,” he said. “Don’t do that.”
Arthur said he tells clients – including business owners, CEOs and other executives – to avoid this and instead set aside time during the week so that work doesn’t eat up time for rest and other priorities.
For some employees, logging in on the weekend is the norm. By 2025, Microsoft has reported this a “notable increase” in weekend email activity among users of the workplace software.
Arthur encourages employees – even those who aren’t the boss – to set aside time on Monday morning to make plans for the week. An hour without meetings can help create a smoother week, he said.
At the other end of the week, Arthur recommends setting aside time on Friday afternoon to reflect on the past week and prepare for the week ahead.
His advice runs counter to broader pressures from hustle culture Silicon Valley debates ‘gravel slop’ and the virtues and pitfalls of the 996 working modelwho prefers long working hours, six days a week.
The goal, Arthur said, is to prevent work from being lost in the time people need for other activities, including downtime.
Business Insider wants to know what you think about working on Sundays so you can get ahead of the week. Is it a good way to move forward – or at least get a better handle on things on Monday morning? Or can this lead to burnout?
