Make Most Of Weekends

Aashish Mishra

After a very eventful week, Saturday is finally here. Those of us who get weekends off now have two days of holidays and a chance to devote our time to something productive that interests us other than our regular jobs. At least that’s what we desire. But more often than not, things don’t exactly go according to plan and our weekends fizzle out without us having achieved anything we had initially planned. So, it might do us good to follow a few guidelines to make sure we utilise our Saturdays and Sundays doing the things that we actually want to do.

The first thing we need to do to make the most of our weekends is to structure them. We need to set out the things we want to do during the weekend beforehand. Of course, not everything can be predicted and some things will come up spontaneously. But we should predict and plan the things we can in advance. We need to set targets for us to achieve because if we don’t, we might end up doing nothing.

We can also use our two days off to pick up a new hobby or resume an old one. We work the same routine for five continuous days so doing something different, something that we are passionate about, during the weekends will recharge our body and spirit and give us the physical and mental energy to bear the coming week. These hobbies can be the usual like reading, writing, knitting or cooking or it can be something challenging like running, climbing, trekking or learning a new skill – whatever makes you feel fulfilled and helps you break the monotony of your weekly routine.

Whatever you do though, make sure you do it surrounded by nature. During the week, our days are spent surrounded by concrete, technology and pollution. So, to balance that, we need to spend our weekends around greenery, fresh air and sunlight. This would ideally be achieved by going to a place, preferably a forest or a hillside, far away from the city but if that is not possible, a few hours in the park can also help. The idea is to get out of the urban bubble and get closer to the natural elements.

Sports are a great way to do this. Taking a ball or a frisbee to an open ground nearby and pushing it around will help you get some exercise as well. Some others might decide to join in the fun, giving us a chance to make new friends. Or we may be able to take our family members or peers with us, allowing them to have a productive weekend as well. Things become more fun when we do it with the people we love.

Having said that though, sometimes it’s better to enjoy your own company during the weekends. After all, you are surrounded by people every day but how often do you get to be alone with your thoughts? The presence of other people does not allow us to open up and fully be comfortable. So, it might be a good idea to make the two days of the weekends ‘you’ days and seek out the cosiness that loneliness has to offer. This can even be therapeutic and give you an opportunity to catch up with yourself. Not having people distract you might also give you time to get things done around the house like cleaning, washing or fixing.

And to get this ‘alone’ time, do not hesitate to postpone or cancel some things. Not everything you think you have to do needs to be done and needs to be done by you. So relax, put your chores on hold and fully devote your weekends to rest and recharge. Let your days off actually be days off. You work non-stop five days a week so allow yourself to take two days off. Now, some people are actually able to manage work and play and make time for fun while also keeping up with office duties. But for others who aren’t, the recommendation is to prioritise rest and leisure.

Spending the weekends at home in bed is a valid choice but not a very productive or healthy one. Let us take this time to move around and get things done that we are not able to do during the week.