What do you do when life hands you unexpected free time — not a vacation, not a long weekend, but a recurring, reliable gift of unstructured hours every single week? That's exactly the situation Erin's best friend of over 30 years, Emily Gibson, found herself in when a shift in her employment created free Fridays from now through the end of the year.
Instead of defaulting to scrolling, guilt, or vague intentions, Emily got intentional. She designed the Found Fridays project — a personal framework and Instagram series where every Friday is planned with purpose, organized into meaningful categories including rest and relaxation, house and home, friends and family, and fun and festive. Each Friday has a specific activity. Each activity is chosen on purpose.
In this episode, Erin and Emily explore what it actually takes to move from "I have free time" to "I used that time in a way I'm proud of" — and why most of us fail to bridge that gap, even when the intention is there.
What You'll Hear in This Episode
- How Emily went from a long weekend of wasted potential to designing a full semester of intentional Fridays
- Why she created categories instead of a to-do list — and how that distinction changes everything
- The role of accountability, audience, and public sharing in keeping the project alive
- What the Found Fridays framework looks like in practice: Notion docs, phone calendar scheduling, partner communication
- The "eat the frog" philosophy and why tackling one meaningful thing on a Friday makes the whole weekend feel lighter
- Why the project isn't really about Fridays — it's about learning to fall more in love with the life you already have
- How to scale the Found Fridays concept to fit your life, even if you don't have a full free day to work with
- The dopamine menu connection: building a list of what actually brings you joy versus what just consumes your time
The Found Fridays Framework: Key Takeaways
For anyone who finds themselves with unstructured time:
- Make the list first. Before the time arrives, write down everything you want to do, need to do, and have been avoiding — without filtering.
- Break it into categories. Not by task type, but by what you need — rest, accomplishment, connection, creativity. Pick from those buckets.
- Put it in your calendar and tell someone. Scheduling communicates commitment to yourself and to the people in your life.
- The video is not the goal. The thing is the goal. Accountability tools (like sharing publicly) work when they serve the project — not when they become the project.
- It's scalable. You don't need a whole free day. Thursday nights from 7 to 9 can hold a Found Thursday. The principle transfers.
Guest Capsule: What's Framing Emily's Season Right Now
- Reading: The Assistant to the Villain series (whimsical fantasy, more approachable world-building than epic fantasy)
- Watching: Ted Lasso — "the antithesis to everything happening in the world right now"
- Scent: Citrus everything — Satsuma from The Body Shop, goji berry lemon and orange body lotion
- Soundtrack: Qveen Herby — "women getting shit done energy," the first thing she listens to every morning
- Accounts she loves: Christy Newrutzen (@christi.newrutzen) — "how long does it actually take to do the thing?" | Meredith Shaw, Toronto TV personality and plus-size style icon | and, obviously, Medium Lady
Connect with Erin + Medium Lady
About Medium Lady Talks
Medium Lady Talks is created and hosted by Erin, a millennial mother building the life that's made for her while fighting burnout, living intentionally, and embracing gratitude — even when she's grumpy. Each episode combines deep conversation, practical tools, and the kind of honesty that helps you maximize self-discovery and minimize self-judgment.
