We’re all busy in this fast paced life. Often we have many things that we need to do on priority and still many things that we wish to do but can’t find time.The list of works to do fills up faster than we can actually tick off. What we all want is more time… Well we all can certainly do and achieve a lot more if we can make the most of that extra time we all have-the weekends!
This article explores the things to do on your weekends that would surely enrich your lives and help you be more successful and happy. But, before we actually start firing the 6 ideas, let us first appreciate the reasons that make weekends important in our lives…
Why weekends should be taken seriously?
Our mind & body are wonder machines that keeps on going with the minimal of fuss. However, just like any modern computing device, both the software & hardware, i.e, mind & body, needs to reboot once in a while. The weekends are an opportunity to unwind & reboot and for that, they must be different from your usual weekdays having the necessary doses of energy, fun, creativity, emotions, rest and peace.
In numerical terms, those having Sunday day off would have 52 weekends in year 2014. For those having two days off a week would have 104 weekends! Just imagine that endless possibilities that one can exploit on one hand and the amount of time that would be wasted wasted the other hand.
Many successful people from different fields strongly believe that the weekends are a secret weapon to their professional /business success. To hit that Monday morning hard with full energy and enthusiasm, you just have to rejuvenate yourself in the weekend. Any lack of this and you will probably drain and exhaust yourself before the week ends.
Be with family, friends
Weekends are a great time to make up relationships stronger and bond with people. Afterall, strong relationships and the emotional comfort is very essential to being happy and successful in life. The recommended activities need to be simple and without any distractions. Most successful people prefer to quitely spend some quality time with their kids and family and to do simple activities like go to parks, play games, long drives, have food together, catch up on children lives, etc. Once in a while though, we can also experiment. For those who wish to try, there are many ideas like having family photo sessions, learning a new skill from a friend/professional like yoga, dancing, medicine, painting, photography, reciting your favourite poems, sharing family stories, listening to music, group singing or a friendly debate, visit to old age homes /orphanage, and so on. The choices can be endless to match everyone’s comfort and interests. Irrespective of any activity you choose, you can create rituals & traditions that enrich your lives and which later become priceless memories.
Rejuvenate mind & body
The weekends present a great opportunity to unwind in a healthy way by working the body and the mind. What people should aim at is to have a flow of positive energy through the mind and body. To begin with, one should be careful in not wasting the weekend mornings. Early morning risers can be amazed at the amount of time they have at their disposal. The time should be reserved for some sort of physical activity or sport like extended walks, jogging, biking, yoga, badminton games, and so on. One can also take time to meditate, listen to soft music or later pursue your interests like photography, painting, etc. during the day. A short afternoon nap tucked in between the day will also help you rejuvenate you a lot. Note that late night parties, saturday night bars, sleeping or watching television all day long don’t qualify to be on the list. Very often, you will feel drained, dizzy or mentally exhausted at the end of it.
Finish Off Your Chores
Scheduling your chores, works on the weekend can help you stay in control of the things that need to be done. One of the most critical chores that one should do every weekend is revisiting your finances. Among the things that one can do over a weekend are
- Work on weekly /monthly budgets or at least keeping a check on the week’s expenses
- Planning for the expenses /income for the next week /rest of the month.
- Recording of your important documents like bills, vouchers, etc.
- Checking upon your investments /portfolio
Among the other things that can be done includes paying bills, household chores, groceries, medical checkups, fixing & maintenance works, and so on. What is is important is that we allocate a proper time window to do these chores and to be motivated enough on the weekend to do it. Afterall, discipline, is one differentiating attribute between those living organised lives and those living otherwise.
Getting New Ideas
There is no formula to get great ideas apart from keep on trying. Normal working days do not allow us to think creatively and out of box. The weekends, with moments relaxed mind & leisure of time, one can easily get the creative juices flowing and think of innovative ideas and solutions on any subject. The ideation can on business & professional challenges, new ventures, concepts, and so on. You can keep a personal notebook of the ideas with you and write down all the constructive thoughts that cross your mind. You never know… most small Sunday ideas can be realised very easily while some Sunday ideas can even change lives!
Planning
Weekends also present great opportunity to do all sorts of ‘planning’ and fill those blank pages of your diary. It can be about goals, targets & things that you will do within the next week to the long and even very long term. Among the short term things that you can definitely plan are the household chores, family matters, work issues, finances, travel plans and so on. For professionals, executives, planning for the
next week’s agenda is also something that can be done every week so that you are ready with the execution plan when you are in office on Monday morning.
Self Introspection
Self introspection is the most powerful medium to change yourself for good. On weekends, one can easily free the mind, be alone and spend some moments to introspect. Introspection is very crucial in our lives at all times. In Hinduism, Swami Chinmayananda emphasised the role of introspection in five stages, outlined in his book “Self Unfoldment”; and the Jains have the practise of ‘pratikraman’ to be followed. In this personal thing you would be one with your own conscious thoughts and feelings. The introspection can be on many things like – your decisions, actions, reactions, the situations that you handled and how you would do it again. Things like – building a stronger self personality in mind, looking at the way you are and who you want to be. These thoughts are sure to open new horizons and realisations for you and become a better person more than anything else…
Conclusion:
In present times, things are very fast paced and our usual weekdays have evolved a lot. There are higher expectations and greater competition for all of us today. Time has come that we define and plan for time to enjoy our lives and also work towards making it better. The weekends can be a gateway to enrich your lives with better relationships, health, skills and an overall rejuvenated yourself. If you are aiming to be successful and / or happy, we need to do most of the 6 things in this piece on weekends. It is time to realise the importance of weekends and capitalise on them rather than allow them to just pass away.