There’s a certain giddiness that comes with making it to Friday. The light at the end of the workweek tunnel, right? You’ve survived the chaos, outmaneuvered the email avalanche, and maybe even remembered to eat lunch once or twice. But just when I’m ready to claim victory over the week, I glance at my calendar and…WHAM! Six. Meetings. On. A. Friday.

Somehow, the meeting monster has outsmarted me yet again, slapping a giant “gotcha” on my celebratory Friday plans. What fresh evil is this? Honestly, shouldn’t there be some kind of universal workplace rule that bans meetings after noon on Fridays? What sadistic soul thought that 4:00 PM meetings on the brink of freedom were a good idea? When am I supposed to do the actual work that accumulated throughout the week because of all the other meetings?

I mean, really, how am I supposed to be productive when I’m already halfway out the door in my mind, dreaming of a Netflix binge? TGIF? More like TGIM — Thank God It’s Monday, when I’ll probably have more meetings to fix the problems caused by these Friday ones! Here’s to the never-ending meeting cycle.