4 Tips for A Productive and Rewarding Weekend
Monday mornings seem to come too fast. You enter the weekend with ideas, goals, tasks – or the lack thereof. All of a sudden, it’s Sunday night, and you either haven’t had the downtime you needed or you haven’t crossed many of those things off your list. So, the extra tasks will get done during the week or will have to wait until next weekend. It’s tough making room for all the things you need and want to do on the weekend. But it’s doable if you’re strategic and not too hard on yourself.
Here are four tips for having a productive and rewarding weekend:
Be realistic
The first step in ensuring you have a rewarding weekend is to have realistic expectations of what you can accomplish in a weekend. Being realistic about what you can accomplish in specific amount of time has its benefits. You’re more likely to check off all the items on your to-do list, and as a result, you’re less likely to feel “unproductive” at the end of the weekend.
You may feel like you can complete those nine random tasks over the weekend, but when it’s Sunday night and you still have five left, you feel like you let yourself down. There’s no need for that! Enter the weekend with realistic expectations. The point of having a productive weekend is to reduce stress – not add to it!
Prioritize what you absolutely must get done
After realizing you must be realistic about what you can accomplish, it’s time to plan your priorities for the weekend. First consider what absolutely must get done. Think about the tasks that can’t carry into the next weekend – maybe it’s grocery shopping, buying a birthday gift or putting in a little extra time at work. This will help you prioritize your weekend tasks.
There will always be things that can wait. If you have multiple items that must get done now, it simply means the other items will get done another time – and that’s okay. Determine what items you must accomplish this weekend, and remember, have realistic expectations.
Related Post: 15 Ideas For Quality “Me Time” That Will Leave You Feeling Refreshed
Include downtime in your to-do list
You’ve made your list of priorities, but now I have to ask: Did you include some time for yourself on that list? Having alone time on the weekend will make you feel rested and more productive for the new week. There may be a lot to do on the weekend, but you need time to refocus and recharge. No questions asked!
Plan when you will accomplish each task
It’s much easier to complete a task when you have a plan to complete it, otherwise, it likely won’t get done on time. So, after you’ve decided on your weekend priorities, plan when you will accomplish each of them. Consider your weekend plans, and when you’ll have a chunk of time for those little to-dos. You may need to plan around other events, but that’s where your realistic mindset will come in handy. You didn’t overachieve on your weekend plans because you knew how much free time you’d have to spare.
Once the weekend comes, do your best to stick to your priorities. Don’t take on something that could be done later. And, diligent about doing the things you said you would – whether it’s going for a mani-pedi or mopping the floors.
Life is truly a balancing act. We need fun, intimacy, intellectual stimulation, social activities, me time, etc. to feel like ourselves. It’s likely that many of these things, plus less appealing things like laundry or grocery shopping, will enter your weekend to-do list. You can absolutely balance it all and still have a productive and relaxing weekend if you have a plan.
Related Post: 3 Things Successful Women Do Each Weekend
