On Monday, I advised on how to beat the Monday blues! It is Friday today so it makes sense to suggest some ideas on how to maximise and enjoy your weekend so that next week is even more successful. Here are my 6 top tips:
- Don’t sleep in – it may be very tempting to lounge around in bed until late morning but this really messes up your sleep cycles and will just make you feel more tired during the week. I prefer to rise at a similar time each morning and factor in an afternoon nap if I have had a late night.
- Exercise – Exercising invigorates and refreshes your body and mind whilst providing the opportunity to clear your head and embrace fresh ideas. At the weekend, I indulge in a mix of high intensity cardio (to wake me up), strength training (to make me stronger) and yoga (to clear my mind). I can fit this in because I get up early on Saturdays and Sundays (see point 1).
- Spend time with your family – one of the main reasons you work hard all work is to provide for your family. Enjoy time with them! During the week, my husband and I ferry the children to various lessons and clubs but we aim to keep the weekend free of these activities. Instead we prefer to go to the beach, see friends, swim, play games, the list is limitless!
- Pursue hobbies – it is a great idea to pursue non-work related hobbies. I would love to say that I spend my weekends sailing or water skiing but with a young family and household chores to attend to, I never find time. In reality, this is just an excuse and I should make time (I will focus on hobbies once this cast is off my arm – 3 weeks to go!).
- Disconnect – we are all permanently attached to our smartphones like they are some kind of life support machine! We need to respond to emails, social media posts etc etc – but this is not really the case! Disconnecting can do wonders for your mental health as well as clearing your mind to germinate new ideas. I find it very difficult to disconnect but when I do I feel like a weight has lifted!
- Plan for next week – weekends are a great time to rest, refresh and enjoy but you should also spend some time planning for the week ahead so you hit the ground running on Monday which in turn will beat the Monday blues!
I hope you find these ideas useful and interesting! How do you maximise your weekends?
