It’s the day before Thanksgiving. It’s also a work day. It’s also the birthday of Doris Duke, an American art collector and philanthropist. It’s also the day before a FOUR DAY WEEKEND. GAH. I have zero energy to do anything today.

Well, that’s not true. I have to have energy to go to the gym and move a piano later. I will have energy for that.

And then I might possibly find the energy to drink beer after that.

And then possibly play video games.

BECAUSE IT’S A FOUR DAY WEEKEND.

But anything relating to or pertaining to work, I have no energy for.

I know you guys can’t see our ‘Who’s Doing What’ board at work, but pretty much everyone is taking an extended vacation today. Literally half the office isn’t in the office. It’s crazy. It’s quiet. It’s … too quiet.

And ya know, I can’t be the only one that’s feeling this way. I know that a majority of people, when looking forward to a long weekend or an extended vacation, get really really really lazy and don’t want to do a damn thing.

I’m going to call this phenomenon…THE WEEKEND EFFECT. (See what I did there? It’s the name of the blog AND the name of the thing I’m completely making up so I can have something to write about today since I really don’t want to do any work because everything I have due is due after we get back from out holiday break and I really don’t have any motivation to do any work whatsoever.)

“Reed,” you’re asking yourselves, “What is this so-called ‘Weekend Effect’ you speak of?”

Well, I’ll tell you.

The Weekend Effect is the complete and utter lack of motivation you feel on the day directly before days of rest. These days can include, but are not limited to, vacation days, holidays, birthdays, weekends, or bar mitzvahs.

The interesting thing about the Weekend Effect is that how little motivation you feel is directly correlated to how long your break is. So, if you’re at work on a Friday getting ready for the weekend, then you’re…mildly not motivated to do anything. You know, just a normal amount of non-motivation.

BUT. If you’re, say, getting ready for a 10-day-long vacation away from work and it’s the Friday before you’re leaving, then ho-ho…you’re in for a doozy. I think, if it’s possible, you’d actually have negative motivation to do things.

You also have to take into account what you’ll be doing on said break. Take today, for instance. I know that two out of the next four days will involve tons of food, plenty of drink, family fun, and sleeping. One out of the next four days will involve my favorite place in the whole wide world (Real Ale Brewery), tons of awesome beer, and I’ll be partaking in my favorite activity of all time, fishing. THERE’S SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO.

Therefore, I’m anticipating this four-day weekend more than I would be a, say, six-day weekend with nothing planned. The higher the anticipation, the lower the amount of motivation to get anything done.

It’s a crazy theory, I know, but I feel like it could catch on. I think it’s going places. Look for the Weekend Effect Theory published in an extremely non-scientific journal or publication near you soon.