As golfers, any chance we can take to spend some time on the course, however short it may be, is precious. Whether it’s working a 9-5 or coming home to a busy family, most of us live busy lives. For us, the golf course is a relaxing getaway. It’s the pièce de résistance of our daily grind. But for those that do work all day and family all night, finding that time can be difficult, and in some cases seemingly impossible. The most avid of golfers can go weeks at a time without making it to the course. That’s just not right!

So, how do we do it? How do we find the time in our busy schedules to sneak out a few hours in the week to hit the range, or dare I say, play a few holes? Skip out on work! No, I’m not telling you to forgo your work responsibilities in favor of playing golf (although that does sound enticing). Below I provide three reasons why playing more golf can actually make you perform better at work, and how you can play more during the week.

Relationship Building
You go to work everyday. See the same people. Do the same things. Go home, and repeat. It can get a bit monotonous. Little did you know that Ralph from Marketing and Matt from Sales both love to golf but just can’t find the time to play. What do you do? You march right into your boss’s office and ask if he wants to play golf on Friday with you and the boys. What’s he going to say? “You know Steve, we’ve had a good week. Let’s play!”

If you are so lucky, a day out with your co-workers can bring a whole new perspective to your working relationships with them. For better or worse, you can learn a lot from people on the course. Not so lucky to get out on a Friday? Set up a weekend tee-time with your co-workers. Keep it fun and casual and soon enough your boss will be asking YOU to skip work to play a round mid-week.

More Efficient Workplace
Once you have your weekly work foursome on the books, you’ll need to make sure you get all of your work done so that your performance doesn’t drop. Sounds easier said than done, but here are a few tips to help you stay ahead of the game:

• Limit Meetings: Meetings are great, but keep them short and to the point. No one likes an hour meeting that would have sufficed with a quick email.
• Weekend Work: Do some pre-week planning on Saturday or Sunday. Nothing big here, but going into the week with some keep action items will get your Monday’s off to a good start.
• 4-Day Work Week: This isn’t possible for most people, but if it is, for the sake of your golf game DO IT! You’ll work a little longer and harder Monday through Thursday, but having Fridays to your leasure will prove key to your flexibility to play more golf.

These will help you be more efficient on the job and your boss WILL notice.

Workplace Detox
We all love our jobs and love being at work. Okay, maybe not all of us. But, I swear we do here at Daily Birdie! In all seriousness, workplaces can be an ultra-stress environment. Whether it’s project deadlines, product launches or monthly sales quotas, this stress can really take it out on you (my grey hair doesn’t lie). Any good boss knows when the troops have been working hard and are in need of a little workplace detox. So, whether you’re the boss or the employee, next time your company is planning a team building exercise, propose a trip to the range. I normally don’t recommend this, but head out to the range and swing for the fences. Let out all of your work stress, one ball at a time. You’ll be relaxed in no time and you’ll be heading back into the office on cloud nine.

We think it’s clear. Playing more golf, and getting your mind off of work, even for short while, can be beneficial to your job and your work relationships. Just make sure your boss thinks so too! Cheers to more Fridays on the course instead of in the office!

Play well!