Make the Weekend Seem Longer

Instead of focusing on how short the weekend is, make the most of it with these easy to do steps. Stop dreading Monday. To make sure you get two long days, follow these tips!

Steps

  1. Wake up at your usual time, or earlier. The biggest mistake is to assume that the weekend is great for a sleep-in. When you do this, you not only get your body out of sync, you have just kissed goodbye to precious time that can be put to better use. Go to bed earlier if you're exhausted Friday night, and sleep in on the odd Saturday when you really are thoroughly shredded, but don't sleep into your weekend on a regular basis.
  2. Do the chores first. Nobody wants to do the chores and very few people get a thrill out of cleaning, washing the clothes, and vacuuming. But it has to be done. So the earlier you do it on the weekend, the better. Set aside a time, say 7am - 9am Saturday morning to just do it and get all available hands on deck to help. You'll feel a huge sense of relief when it is done and it clears the way for the rest of the weekend. This is also the time to add the special food to the marinade, or to thaw it, or to get it started cooking.
  3. Get the grocery shopping out of the way too. If you can, try to grocery shop one weeknight. That is one less thing to worry about then. If not, add it to the early Saturday morning chores list and have it done by 10am before a lot of other people are even getting out of bed and considering doing it. Always avoid afternoon grocery shopping on weekends - that is when everyone else is doing it too and you'll be waylaid in traffic, have a hard time finding ideal parking spots, and you'll be in queues in the shops. That is just a waste of your time. Use the grocery time to catch up on haircuts, vet appointments, and to collect the dry-cleaning too.
  4. Set aside time to do bill payments and other regular chores. Instead of having paperwork hanging over you like a dark cloud all weekend, set aside a specific time when you will sit down and deal with this. If you have time on a weeknight to do the paperwork, this is a good way to move it out of the weekend. If not, add it to the chore times, or allocate the time somewhere that it won't interfere with enjoying weekend activities.
  5. Plan to do things. Weekends feel longer if you get out and enjoy them. Mark events to do on your calendar. If you see events in the paper that interest you, cut them out and pin them to the calendar and plan to go. Consider what you, your family, your friends etc. like to do together and organize in advance:
    • Plan a sports event - either one of your own (e.g., football in the park), or going to a sporting event to cheer it on
    • Plan to go to the museum, the zoo, the park, the art gallery, the local exhibition, the bazaar at the local school, the visiting circus etc.
    • Plan to visit relatives, friends, people in hospital etc.
    • Plan to relax; as trite as this sounds, you should spend some of the weekend truly relaxing and that includes not using electronic equipment!
  6. Plan an out-of-town trip. Go for a drive and change of scenery. Take a picnic lunch or stop for lunch in another town. Getting out of your city or town stretches time because your mind is given new things to look at and contemplate. Go hiking, cycling, running, skiing, surfing, sledding, bird watching, plane spotting, writing poetry under a tree etc. - whatever takes your fancy.
  7. Use the evenings well. Plan to do things in the evenings that do not involve TVs, computers, or video games. These soak up time without it even being realized and suddenly you wonder where that time went. Instead, go out and do things:
    • See a movie (it has a fixed time and allows you to do other things)
    • Go bowling or do some other indoor sporting activity
    • Go out to dinner - it doesn't have to be expensive, just get a group of friends or family and visit somewhere convenient for a pleasant evening of conversation, catching up, and food
    • Go to a concert - whatever your taste in music, there is nothing quite as uplifting as a concert
    • Go shopping - a trip to your local mall can be a lot of fun for window shopping and eating out cheaply
    • Go to the pub - have just a few drinks and a lot of good conversation; don't stay all night, just add this in with other activities
    • Go to a book store - browse the books, have a coffee and buy a good book
    • Go to the theatre - you'll be transported away for a few hours to another world
  8. Plan your meals. Meal making can soak up a lot of the weekend if you aren't well prepared. A lot of the frustration can come from simply not knowing what to prepare because you shift out of the routine mode of work or study; if you plan weekend meals in advance, it is as easy as going to the kitchen, following the recipe and serving. And make use of the time-saving devices like dishwashers. It is also a good idea to avoid overly time-consuming recipes if you don't enjoy cooking. You will only resent the time being stuck in the kitchen.
  9. Treasure your weekend. It is important to respect the time that you do have, which means not doing things that sap away at the time. Spending more time worrying about where the time is going is unprofitable. Weekends are a time to rejuvenate and to spend time thinking and reflecting. Allow yourself this space and don't beat yourself up over missed time.
  10. Do something fun on Sunday evening Have everything ready for Monday on Sunday morning so at 6 PM instead of feeling the weekend is over you can actually grab a movie and enjoy the last piece of the weekend.
  11. Watch less television/ video games. They consume time extremely fast without you realizing how much time you've spent on electronics.

Tips

  • Just relax and enjoy the time off.
  • Always finish your work ahead of time, right away and then by the time the weekends over you'll feel much less stress.
  • Keep a clutter-free house. This is vital to finding more time in your life. And don't bring more clutter into the house; time spent shopping for new stuff for your house is less time for other pursuits. Avoid it like the plague and only buy what is essential, useful and non-cluttering.
  • If you are really busy in your professional life, consider help in the garden and home to free up more of your weekend. While it costs money, it is important to weigh these costs with the cost of your time being used up weeding, mowing, and cleaning the house top to toe. Sometimes the equation doesn't work out if you spend all your time cleaning and gardening!
  • Try to avoid clouding your weekend with over-consumption of alcohol or other mind-altering substances. These steal your perception of time and end up either leaving you with headaches, hangovers and tiredness, or they fog up your ability to do things. A forgotten weekend is no weekend at all.
  • If you have kids needing to be driven all over the place on weekends, it is time to start scheduling and sharing the efforts. Consider asking such things as:

    • Which kids are old enough to get themselves to where they need to be?
    • Which parent/guardian/neighbour/friend/other parents are best place to ferry the kids around at any particular time - how about pooling resources and divvying up the weekend roster for transport so that you all get weekends off?
    • Can some activities be done closer to home?
    • Are the children happy doing those activities or maybe it's time for a change of activities (look for ones closer to home)
    • Can they stay at a friend's place sometimes for a change and go with the friend to their activity?
  • Try getting most of your chores done during the week, after school or work so you can have more time dedicated to having fun.
  • Don't use electronics as much. It will make the weekend seem longer because you spend a lot of time on the devices.

Things You'll Need

  • Blocks of time for chores
  • Plans for activities
  • Car, train, bus for trips out of town
  • Tickets to events
  • The off switch to your electronic gadgets

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