Employees Are Suffering From the “Friday Illusion”—Here’s What That Means

Guys, I’m exhausted. Between surviving the 9-to-5 grind and trying not to eat cereal for dinner again, my energy is hanging by a thread. So, when yet another workplace trend pops up to potentially explain why my brain short-circuits by the end of each workweek, I’m happy to indulge. And this week’s headline? A sneakier movement that might be secretly sabotaging our Fridays and making us less productive as a result: the “Friday illusion.”

You’ve probably felt it without realizing it—that fuzzy, sluggish Friday lull that tricks your brain into thinking you’re still emailing, writing, and ticking off tasks. When in reality, you’ve been staring at the same sentence for five minutes and second-guessing one single word you put in an email. That, my friends, is the Friday Illusion.

Our bodies have been sending anti-work signals on Fridays for ages. And while it feels totally harmless to mentally check out on Fridays, experts warn that accepting this productivity killer as the norm could eventually lead us to burnout. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that a recent EduBirdie study found that 73 percent of Gen Z would give up part of their paycheck for an extra day off each week.

To get a clearer picture of the “Friday illusion” and its impacts, we connected with Avery Morgan, productivity expert and CHRO at EduBirdie. Ahead, we’re breaking down exactly what this trend means and how to work with our Friday slumps, instead of letting them fully wipe us out.

MEET THE EXPERT

Avery Morgan

Avery Morgan is the Chief Human Resources Officer at EduBirdie, with deep expertise in strategic leadership, workplace culture, talent management, employee relations, corporate wellness, and productivity. Under Avery’s leadership, EduBirdie has spearheaded initiatives to address the growing issue of young people’s burnout and launched programs to help professionals boost productivity and achieve a healthier work-life balance.

What is the “Friday illusion?”

Come Thursday afternoon, vibes in the work-verse start to shift. The clock hits 3 p.m., emails slow to a crawl, Slack messages go unanswered, and suddenly, scrolling through memes feels essential just to make it to five. Even if everyone is technically at their desks, most of us are slowly but surely losing steam. As Avery Morgan puts it, the Friday illusion creates the “misconception that you remain productive when, in reality, your mind starts to disengage without your awareness”—and it can start as early as Thursday afternoon. Wounded by the previous tasks of the workweek, our minds start to drift—and by Friday, we’re left rereading that same email for the fifth time, unable to focus. Sure, we’re “working,” but how much are we really getting done?

I know what you’re thinking: Who doesn’t start to drift during work hours every once in a while? (Me, because my boss is reading this!) But here’s the thing: According to Morgan, leaning into this natural Friday slump has the potential to backfire.

Why the “Friday illusion” leads to burnout

Again, the Friday illusion is—in many ways—nothing more than an innocent survival hack (I’m not a robot). But it can trick you into a productivity hangover that feels fine for a day but hits hard come Monday. That harmless habit of slowly chipping away at tasks on Fridays ends up backfiring: What wasn’t finished last week piles up, making your workload even heavier and leaving you even more drained as a result.

But rolling tasks forward week after week doesn’t just bury you—it feeds the burnout cycle. Employees already report feeling overworked, insecure, and emotionally drained, and adding another lingering stress point only worsens the strain. Combine that with an unstable job market, and it’s no wonder burnout levels are hitting record highs.

By allowing that Friday slump to hijack your focus week after week, you’re bound to end up exhausted, unmotivated, and part of the growing group of employees experiencing “Quiet Cracking“—gradually disengaging from work due to feelings of anxiety, burnout, or a loss of professional purpose. In other words, what starts as a harmless end-of-week survival tactic can quietly erode your productivity, motivation, and sense of professional fulfillment over time.

How to stop the “Friday Illusion” from affecting your workload

The good news? With a few strategic tweaks, you can prevent it from derailing your workload and causing burnout. “The key to success,” Morgan shared, “is partnering with the situation instead of resisting it—so you can actually achieve meaningful results before the week ends.” To help keep your Fridays working for you instead of against you, Morgan recommends a few simple ways to manage them:

Work in sprints, not marathons

Saving (read: procrastinating) your big projects for the end of the week could be part of why your Friday energy dips. As Morgan explains, larger tasks become inevitably incompatible with the state of the Friday mind. Instead, she recommends breaking your Friday into brief, 45-minute focus sessions that let you tackle one task at a time—and avoid the overload that leads to burnout.

“What starts as a harmless end-of-week survival tactic can quietly erode your productivity, motivation, and sense of professional fulfillment over time.”

She notes that by doing so, “the process resembles rapid competition, where you complete one task and then pause before beginning the next.” By structuring your day this way, Morgan says, Fridays become a game rather than a “monotonous routine”—letting you rack up quick wins throughout the day. TL;DR: Wapping marathon projects for bite-sized sprints can help you stay engaged, build momentum, and actually finish the week feeling productive instead of frazzled.

Do “reverse planning” on Thursday afternoons

Morgan notes that one of the biggest mistakes people often make is forgetting about important tasks until Friday afternoon—by then, most of our brains have already shifted toward weekend brunch plans and the thought of sleeping in. To combat this, she recommends “performing a brief ‘reverse plan’ on Thursday afternoons” so you can turn your Friday tasks into manageable, predictable pieces. This involves sectioning out tasks into three main categories: ones that require immediate completion, ones that need your direct involvement, and things that can safely wait. By planning your Friday around just the essentials, you can know exactly what your day needs to look like without spiraling over all the tasks left on your to-dos.

Use Fridays for “low-stakes reps”

Your brain is tired, and your favorite sitcom rerun is calling. This is exactly when the Friday illusion sneaks in, which means it is not a time for high-stakes projects, according to Morgan. Instead, lean into those slower vibes when you feel them, rather than fighting them. Keep it simple by sending quick emails, organizing notes, or outlining tasks for the week ahead. You can even gamify it a little by checking off and celebrating small wins as you go. “This method allows you to progress your work without excessive pressure,” said Morgan. Then, when Monday arrives, the foundation of your workweek can be left feeling refreshed and new—with your mental sanity still intact.

Plan the week ahead on Fridays

Planning the next week is a perfect antidote to the Friday illusion. Instead of letting your mind quietly clock out while the end-of-week chaos piles up, you’re already setting yourself up for success. This can help prevent your Friday slumps from snowballing into a cycle of burnout that catches up with you week after week. Morgan explains that by doing this, “the beginning of Monday becomes straightforward because you do not spend time determining what to start with.”

Plus, you can be strategic about when you’ll actually be able to tackle your tasks and schedule them accordingly. For example, scheduling bigger, high-focus tasks early in the week and lighter, admin or creative work later lets you work with the natural ebb and flow of your energy. Even just a few minutes spent organizing tasks on Friday turns that half-checked-out energy into something productive.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Madigan Will, Assistant Editor

As an Assistant Editor for The Everygirl, Madigan writes and edits content for every topic under the digital media sun. As the oldest of four siblings, she enjoys utilizing her big sister persona to connect and inspire readers—helping them discover new ways to maximize their everyday.

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