After a tiring Monday-to-Friday job, many people like to spend their weekends pampering, getting drunk, and watching TV. Then on Monday people reluctantly return to work.
This is a sad reality for most people. But weekends are more than just a respite from the monotony of life. If you use it correctly, weekends can help you relax, improve yourself, and create the life you want. Here are 6 ways to help you do that.
1. Fuel your side job
With prices rising, inflation climbing, and low job satisfaction, a side job is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
Whether it’s to supplement your main income or to pursue a hobby, a side job can spice up your life without interrupting your full-time job.
Most side job “gurus” recommend cutting back on sleep and working on a side hustle. But I think that’s nonsense -sleep is critical to both your health and productivity.
Instead, use your weekends. When I started working full-time as a software developer, I put all my writing, investing, and other high-intensity tasks on the weekends.
This is a win-win choice. During the workday, after I’m done exercising and working, I choose to rest in the evening. And what about weekends? Instead of doing nothing all day, I started doing something exciting.
2. Make more friends
When was the last time you had a serious relationship with friends or hung out with friends?
Most of us would say that after college, we are thrust into the real world, with busy schedules, strained relationships, and friends are gradually drifting apart.
But as the saying goes, “many friends, many paths” and “your network is your net worth” – good relationships can make your career develop faster. Additionally, one of the longest-running studies on happiness (over 80 years) found that the most critical factor in making you happy is your relationships.
“You need to know where you want to go and make sure the right people know it too. – Meredith Mahoney
Yes, your relationships largely determine your success and happiness—In fact, those are the only two things most of us pursue in life.
So, we build and maintain relationships, and there’s no better time to do it than on the weekends. Connect with old friends and make new ones – or by phone or video call if you can’t meet in person.
You may encounter surprises, because people change, and you may resonate deeply with someone you barely know. And, the next stranger you meet might become the love of your life.
You never know.
3. Chat about life with your grandma
After my grandfather passed away, I realized that we cannot take the presence of our loved ones for granted. The regret of not spending enough time with him haunts me.
“Family is not an important thing, it is everything. – Michael J. Fox
I cannot turn back time and bring my loved ones back to life. All I can do is spend enough time with my living relatives.
During the workday, it’s understandable that you don’t have time to chat with your loved ones. But what about on the weekends? You have no excuse. Spend time with the people you love, after all, they won’t always be by your side. Don’t wait until you lose them to realize how important your loved ones are.
4. Learn interesting facts
When people hear the word “study”, the first thing they think of is “boring”.
But on the contrary, learning is one of the most exciting things you can do. But it has to be the right kind of knowledge, subjects that spark your curiosity, skills that excite you, and knowledge that will improve your life.
I hate geography and chemistry. But for psychology or philosophy, I would learn to lose track of time.
If you don’t have an immediate interest, go explore – skills, topics, weird facts, anything. Then it becomes an ongoing cycle – dig in, explore, find new points of interest, and repeat.
As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Learning makes you smarter, happier, and wiser, which translates into better decision-making skills, more productive relationships, greater efficiency, and more ways to make money.
“Those who can continuously acquire new knowledge will become the drivers of our society in the infinite future.” – Brain Tracy
With the internet, there’s nothing you can’t learn, whether it’s something as trivial as doing housework or something as technical as building a chatbot from scratch.
5. Make some plans for the upcoming week
I don’t like being on a strict schedule, but I also don’t like having a completely unplanned week.
Defining a weekly to-do list is a good middle ground, providing a rough structure for the upcoming week without imposing stifling pressure.
Break down the list into two sub-lists – a main list and a secondary list. Work on only 3 to 4 tasks at a time so you don’t overcommit yourself or short-circuit your time. Your goal should be to complete the main list at all costs and complete the secondary list as much as possible.
It may seem trivial, but research has found that setting goals, no matter how difficult, can keep you ahead in life.
6. Sit on a chair and enjoy the sunset
Contrary to what most people think, obsessively binge-watching TV shows and videos don’t relax you, and long hours of screen time and mental exertion can increase your stress.
“Chill or leisure” refers to any activity that puts you in a relaxed state and relieves stress, such as light reading, after-dinner walks, meditation, journaling, sitting back in your chair and enjoying the sunset, or even flying drones to capture the sunset. Bwine drone is equipped with an HD camera, Click here to know Bwine drone more and buy Bwine F7GB2.
The benefits of leisure go much deeper than simply relieving stress. Research shows it’s linked to many beneficial things – rejuvenating the brain, increasing creativity, better concentration, improved mental health, and even increased productivity.
Don’t limit leisure activities to the weekends, but make them an integral part of your workday. Nothing is more productive than alternating between short bursts of deep work and leisure. As Naval Ravikant said,
“The 40-hour work week is a relic of the industrial age. Knowledge workers work like athletes—train, and sprint, then rest and reevaluate.”
So, let’s work hard, play hard, and relax.
