I was taking a look at my calendar this weekend, and it dawned on me that my weekends have changed drastically over the years. As a kid, my weekends were spent schlepping around the state of Florida for my sister’s soccer tournaments. Then in high school, I had an insane amount of homework on top of crew practices and regattas. Then college was mostly spent either at the boathouse, at an out of state regatta, or in the library trying to finish group projects before the week started back up again. When I graduated college, I naively thought I’d have luxurious weekends, and I kind of did. I got to do a couple of fun things with friends, but I also had a lot of work since I was balancing two jobs.
Now… I try my best to keep a clear calendar. I might have one or two things socially to do, but my ideal weekend day is just spent relaxing and recovering from the past week for the following week.
If I’m feeling ambitious, my friends and I will do a fun workout (like yoga or Barre) and then grab or make breakfast together. Even though I’m technically “doing” something, we often text each other last minute to make plans or see if anyone is up for a class or not. We have a great time, and it’s relaxing– plus, I leave the class feeling like I’ve accomplished something..
At some point, I love to take the dogs out to a park or the beach for an extended amount of time with nowhere to be. On a perfect day, it’s warm and not rainy, haha.
Then honestly? I like to just hang out and relax by watching movies or reading a book.
I don’t get a perfectly schedule-free weekend often, but I do try to keep Sundays as clear as possible. Slow Sundays are as dreamy as it gets for me. I’m talking multiple cups of coffee, no makeup, and wearing pajamas for as long as I can.
There is one thing that absolutely does not make it into my weekends. I made one game-changing decision about a year ago that made weekends so. much. better. (Actually can’t remember when it officially happened, but I know it’s been longer than a year.) I made the decision to not email on Saturday or Sunday. Yes, I sometimes work on the weekend, and yes, I can always technically find more work to do since I work for myself/at home. But I found that just because I could answer an email on the weekend, doesn’t mean that I should. So I stay away from the inbox, and it made a huge difference in me being able to enjoy the two days. There’s nothing that can’t wait until Monday morning. I wish I had been firm about this sooner.
What does your ideal weekend look like?
