Stop Living For The Weekend

I can’t wait until it’s Friday! How many times I think this throughout the long days at work! Living for the weekend is a common theme of American life, to the point that we have the saying TGIF (thank god it’s Friday).The idea of living five days each week just waiting for the magical weekend to return is a concept that has bothered me off and on for a while. It is easy to begin living the weekdays in a hurried fog, promising ourselves and our families that we will make it all up on our days off. So we are living five-sevenths of our life in misery, feeling that we can only really live in the remaining two-sevenths. This is a mindset that I cannot, that I will not accept!

There are many things that make us live for the weekend. For some of us, job dissatisfaction is a major cause of unhappiness. We spend time at work but we do not feel like we are living. We suffer through the day, waiting to go home, waiting to escape our misery and become stationary lumps in front of our television sets. I get stuck in a rut of resting after work so I can make it through the next day, while planning to do all the real living on my days off. Yet I find that even those days off are shadowed by the thought that in a short time I will be starting the long, tedious cycle over again. For some, the problem is over-scheduling the evening hours for the benefit of others. Without time in the evening to relax and unwind we are left stumbling from one day into the next. Sports, clubs, and other activities for children are often the culprits of this evening time theft, and we are left without even a few hours after work to unwind and be refreshed. So how do we reclaim our week days? How do we live all week, not just two out of the seven? Here are several suggestions that can help us all:

Make Time In The Morning

Mornings are often the most rushed part of our day. The alarm shrieks its unwelcome message, and we stumble out of bed sleepy-eyed and disoriented. If we leave insufficient time for our morning routine we will emerge from the shower-breakfast-child/pet care process aggravated, grouchy, and stressed. Making time in the morning starts with going to bed at a regular time each night. This allows us to get up when the alarm calls instead of playing the snooze game. Set the alarm early enough to get everything done. For me, this means a minimum of one hour before I need to leave, but you may need more or less time. When the baby comes that amount of time may not be enough anymore. If you can make time for religious devotions or meditation it can add to the positive morning flow.

Take Time To See 

The weekend does not have a monopoly on beautiful, interesting, or funny sights. Each morning as I walk from my car to my classroom I look to see the sunrise. Some mornings it is subtle, others mornings it is breathtaking. I take a moment to really look at the beautiful colors, and the beauty soothes something deep inside me. There are so many things to see… a sweetly singing bird, a student who is not beautiful in outward appearance but radiates beauty through their patient, caring eyes, the list goes on. Observing the people and things around us breaks up the monotony of the day, keeping the hours from running together. The little things are what make up life, so look for them. It will change your day!

Exercise When Possible

Time can be at a premium in the evening, but taking the time to exercise will keep stress levels lower through a stressful week. Stress is one of the top things that makes me long for the weekend. Managing my stress makes the weekdays more bearable and might even make you more alert and energetic. (I can’t promise this will be true…exercise just makes me tired.)

Take Time For You

Trying to live on the weekdays does not mean doing scheduled activities until you drop from exhaustion. Living can be a gentle, peaceful experience too. It is easy to over schedule our time, giving up our evenings to hobbies, children’s activities, or seeing friends. If the activities invigorate and inspire you then keep going. If they drain you, making you feel obligated but not excited then perhaps you might consider canceling activities for a couple of nights a week. Having free nights can feel like a mini weekend, providing much needed relaxation and down time. Use the time to relax mentally and engage in stress relieving activities such as gardening, exercise, playing a musical instrument, reading a book, etc.

These are just a few of the possible ways to live your weeks. Don’t let all that time slip by, enduring the unavoidable. Live it all! What are some ways that you live your weekdays to the fullest? Be sure to share your ideas below!