Are you waiting for a week-end to end or to start?
I don't know whether it's a majority but some of us wait for a week-end to start. If the title is misleading or not clear I was trying to hint at the idea that other people eagerly wait for a week-end to end so they can come back to the job. I believe that the former group is, to a certain extent, unlucky guys. Or - let me rephrase - the later are, on the contrary, are very lucky ones! People struggling from not doing their job for 2 days are really happy - they found a business in their life that makes them passionate. Not only are they happy they also have higher odds and opportunities in their career to succeed, advance on the career path, and therefore become even happier.
I'm very positive that to succeed with career one ought to deliver. In a long-term perspective it's a pattern. We see, of course, exceptions here and there: people get promotions due to personal contacts, trading colleagues, stealing somebody else's credit, or simply being favourites of fortune. But in a long-run perspective it doesn't work. At least you can't build on it (at least I can't). You have to execute, demonstrate results, and deliver. It's not only relevant for managers but for everyone on any position - from an intern to a CEO.
My persuasion is in order to get a chance for promotion you have to over-perform and exceed expectations and therefore you have to love what you're doing. You have to be thinking about your task all the time, dreaming about it, and raring to try, test, and experiment new solutions. Passion is the number one ingredient in the craft of success. If you don't like what you're doing (and the criterion is simple - just check what side the week-ends you're waiting more) then change the job. Maybe you shouldn't do it first Monday after you figure out that Friday is the best day of the week. Although, seriously speaking, if you're not passionate about what you're doing (I didn't say if you hate it) - change the job.
What to change it to? It's not an easy question. Simple to say "find what you're passionate about" but hard to find it. My advice is, firstly, to agree that what you're doing and not liking is an anti-pattern and the situation has to be fixed. By identifying the problem we pass already 50% of the way. Then start discovering other positions. Start talking to friends and colleagues asking what they're doing and listening to their stories. Start reading articles widening your horizon and describing other areas. The target of this phase is just to discover.
Don't confine yourself to the same area where you're currently. If you're an architect think on trying yourself in activities closer to customer sites. If you're a consultant meeting customers daily think on touching business development. If you're from the sales check whether marketing attracts you. Try something orthogonal to what you're doing. Again, it is discovering rather than evaluation. The aim is to get to know what other things are about. But at the same time keep some strategic direction in mind - what would you dream about doing in 10 years? It's only a dream but you need a guiding line simply not to deviate too far from the dreamed way.
To conclude I want to mention that trying new things for the sake of trying is a bad idea. You should consider it only if you feel that your area accidentally became boring for you. The core here is to re-invent the passion about your daily job. If you're happy with what you're doing then there is no problem to fix!
The last remark is to be seriously happy you should wait for both sides of the week-end. To isolate from the job and spend two days solely with the family is a pledge of successful and harmonic life and I doubt that a workaholic finding no desire to be with his or her family for two days can be successful at the job either (and a pleasant colleague to work with).
There is an amazing article on a similar topic from David Maister and, of course, Kathy Sierra permanently blogs on the subject.
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