How You Can Hack Your Weekends to Finally Find Work-Life Balance

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• November 6, 2014
• By Susan Shain
• 1 Comment

It’s Friday at 3 pm. You’re counting down the minutes until 5, looking forward to the freedom of the weekend.

Then, before you know it, it’s Monday morning and you’re back at your desk — feeling frazzled and overwhelmed, rather than rested and energized. You’re left wondering: “Where did my weekend go?”, “What did I accomplish?”, and most importantly, “Did I even enjoy myself?”

If this sounds familiar, keep reading.

Stephanie Taylor Christensen felt just like you: unsure where the weekends went and exhausted by her lack of work-life balance. So, she began a mission to hack her weekends, which she describes in an article for Levo League.

After asking a few productivity experts for advice, she soon realized: “The key to making the most of your Saturdays and Sundays is as simple as changing your perspective on planning. Many people think that ‘free time’ automatically implies a lack of structure — or the freedom to forgo plans altogether — but that’s where they’re wrong.”

How to take back your weekends

If your weekends aren’t as enjoyable or relaxing as they could be, it’s time to make a change. (Click here to tweet this quote.) From the article, we’ve collected several hacks you can implement right away:

• Before you leave work on Fridays, write out a to-do list for Monday morning — so it’s not on your mind all weekend
• Keep a running list of the activities you want to do on the weekends: everything from adventures you want to go on to restaurants you want to try (don’t get bogged down by “shoulds”!)
• On Friday evenings, schedule out your weekend; make it fun by planning over happy hour or talking as a family over pizza
• If ideas don’t come easily, turn to your running list of activities and pick one
• If you do have to work over the weekend, schedule a specific block of time to do so; this will keep you efficient

For Christensen, this technique was a smashing success. She says: “Daunting as the prospect of planning my free time sounded at first, following through has been incredibly rewarding. I now get the most out of my 36 weekend hours by treating them with the same amount of strategy — and respect — as those precious Monday through Friday hours.”

Do you think this technique would help you enjoy your weekends more? Or are you doing just fine without it?

Susan Shain (@TravlJunkette) is a travel blogger who loves helping people discover adventure through international travel or alternative careers.

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