My Top Five Weekend Habits
The idea of ‘weekend’ is created for a reason, to give us a break.
What we want to do during this gifted time is up to us. Most of us treat it as an opportunity to get away from the busy life during the weekdays and recharge, what do you do?
Here are my top five weekend habits that I enjoy and am sure you will too if you give them a try. Be sure to read until the end because I’m not just sharing these rituals to brag.
1. Getting up early
This is a hack to having a longer weekend. The earlier we get up, the more time we have to spend for the day, the more we can do and achieve.
Some of us may take this opportunity to sleep in, maybe to catch up with sleep or they went out the night before and still needed more time to recover. The next thing they know, where has the day gone?
Studies also found that we’re likely to get more tired if we have irregular sleeping patterns. I know it’s easier said than done but I still try to get up no later than one hour of my usual weekday time, without an alarm. It might be hard at first but it can be easily done in three steps:
- Get out of the bed as soon as you’re up
- Open the blinds to get some sunlight and
- Go to the toilet to splash some cold water into your face and I promise you, you’ll find it challenging to go back to sleep even if you try.
The other tip to help you get up early on the weekend is to plan your day ahead, just like your weekdays so you know what you’re doing, instead of going back to sleep. It could be going out for a morning walk to catch the sunrise, going for a swim in a cold ocean to strengthen your immune system or simply just reading while the world is still quiet.
After all, weekend still counts as a part of the limited time we have on this world, do we really want to waste it?
The Great Roman Emperor and Philosopher King Marcus Aurelius even reminded himself in his journal Meditation.
“I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”
2. Extra workout session
For me, the weekday workouts are just something I do quickly at the start of the day, just to get it done with and move on to the next thing. It’s something that has become an automatic habit for me that helps me get ready to smash any challenges that may come in my way during the day.
On the weekends, however, we have more time. We don’t necessarily need to rush to go to work or to the next activities on the schedule, so this is a great opportunity to give it all, to push our limit.
Weekends are not an excuse to sit back on the couch and binge.
3. Learning
When the cavemen are not on the hunt, they still sharpen their weapons when they’re resting. They’re always prepared, and this is what I see learning on the weekends as. Other than pushing our body to its limit, we also need to sharpen our minds.
When, hopefully, we get less distraction, notifications, phone calls, emails and messages on the weekend, we can really use the slower time and silence to really deep-dive into a book or anything we might want to learn more about.
You may use this time to learn and improve your craft, whichever that might be.
4. Reflecting and reuniting with nature
It’s no doubt that most of us are surrounded by digital devices that we barely see what true nature looks and feels like physically.
Human, too, is a part of nature and there is no better way to recharge than to revisit where we truly belong.
I like to go for a walk in a bush, where there are no advertisings, notifications or any noises, alone, so I can finally rest my mind. When it’s truly quiet, that’s when we can really hear ourselves, so I use this opportunity to reflect and think. It really puts me on a path to live consciously.
Luckily, I live in a place where there are so much to explore in nature, including beaches, waterfalls and mountains within a short distance. When we get lost in nature, all our problems tend to go away. We may realise how small we are in the world and that our problems aren’t as big as we made them.
5. Preparing for the week ahead
Just like planning your day the night before so you have the reason to get up in the morning, planning your week ahead is a game-changer.
My top two routines for this are
- Blocking time on my calendar during the week for what I have to do so I can make the most of my time.
- Meal prepping while listening to an audiobook so I don’t have to waste time thinking about what to eat, cooking or spending money on eating out during the week. This has really made a significant impact on my saving.
When I know that I’m prepared, I can easily get up on a Monday morning, knowing that I’m ready to tackle the week.
Why am I telling you this?
Overall, weekend is an opportunity for us to work on our life’s goals because life is not about chasing happiness. Weekend is not an opportunity to escape the shitty life from the weekdays. If you don’t enjoy what you do during the weekdays, then it may be time for a change.
I stop indulging myself in short-term pleasures or chasing things to do on the weekend just so I can tell others how awesome it is when they ask. When we go after the happiness and pleasure, it becomes a never-ending loop because it will never be enough, do we really want to waste our time chasing meaningless things?
Life is about doing our roles for why we were put into this world, at this particular time and place. It’s about fulfilling our potential. It’s about having a purpose or goal that we want to achieve. It’s about writing our own story that directly influences others around us. It’s about contributing to something bigger than ourselves.
Viktor Frankl coined the term ‘logotherapy’ meaning that human nature is motivated by the search for life purpose. (Logos (Greek) = meaning and therapy). During his time in the Nazi camp, as written in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, he found that those who were able to survive tragic experiences were the ones that realised their life’s task that they needed to fulfil.
Robert Greene mentioned in his book Mastery that we all have a force within us waiting to be unleashed. Masters like Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin and many others that were mentioned in the book have devoted their life mastering their craft, not primarily because they want to make their mark within the world, but because they find joy in doing it and the future generations are just lucky to be influenced by their work.
That’s why for me, weekend is not always the time to sit back, relax and indulge myself in pleasures. It’s still the time for me to carry on my mission, to get better at my craft and to ensure that I’m still on track.
As Viktor Frankl said, “When man couldn’t find meaning, he distracted himself with pleasure”.
