17 February 2021 by Leave a Comment

{time} keep your weekends different

Are you still working from home?

A friend said the other day that her house has become the place she works, the place she relaxes, the place she goes to have restaurant food, and also the place she has holidays.

It’s so true for most of us which is why I like to feel that my weekends have a sense of being different to the weekdays.

During the week, I work a full day and then usually go to Zumba one weeknight evening. I also went to Barre last night for the first time since 10 March 2020. That class is now regular so I’ll continue to go. Other than that, I cook, read and write/ coach at night.

On a Friday night, I pack away my work notebook and laptop completely (charger cables and mouse too!) so that my bright yellow desk is ready for FUN things like playing with photos.

My weekends are very unstructured – I like to have a weekend to-do list with just a few anchor events (kids’ swimming and Zumba!) and lots of space for my own things.

I usually have some things to do around the house, some things in the study and some things to relax. You can read a more detailed account of my weekend planning here.

Why is this different? I have a very structured weekday routine so to have almost nothing planned on the weekend is bliss. I organise my holidays the same way!

I would also rather work late one or two nights than to pull out that laptop on a weekend. It feels more restorative to me to have zero work on the weekend so my head is clear.

Let’s talk about you.

What do your weekdays feel like? Can you build more of the opposite into your weekend so it feels different?

Maybe you work all alone during the week and on the weekend you want to connect with friends and family?

Try playing intentionally with your routines to make these pandemic times feel a little more normal.

How would you like your weekends to feel? Which elements would make them more ideal?

Filed Under: Covid-19, Intentional living, Time management Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
20 February 2020 by 3 Comments

{planning} your ideal weekend routine and rhythms

We are all different personalities and therefore need different rhythms for our weekends to feel like they were good ones.

What is important and consistent across personality types is for all of us to decide for ourselves what the components are that will make a weekend feel successful, and then incorporate those elements into our days.

This will also differ according to different times and life stages, e.g. in winter I cook more because that feels more life-giving to me, but in summer I only want to be in the kitchen a very short time.

Let’s look at some components of a successful weekend, shall we?

church – anchor event

1. Anchor events and scheduled activities

In this section, extroverts will typically want to have more time spent with other people where introverts will be happier by themselves.

I have at least three anchor events on most weekends – a tea with a friend after work on Fridays, Saturday morning Zumba and Sunday morning church. Those things are scheduled and in my diary; they can move, but probably won’t.

2. Downtime

We all need downtime, but what downtime looks like for you may differ to the next person.

Some people relax by reading on the couch; others relax by going for a long run. You do you.

3. Chores

Let’s face it – we all look forward to getting some nagging things off the to-do list and I, as an enneagram 1, like nothing more than to potter and set things in order in my home. The week is often for keeping the house ticking over and weekends are when I (and you) can devote a longer period of time to a little deeper cleaning or organising, like swopping summer and winter clothes, decluttering your kitchen cupboards, etc.

4. Planning

This only has to take 20 – 30 minutes but is so useful if done consistently. I’ve heard of some couples who take time on a Friday night to plan for the week ahead. I do my planning in two stages – I plan the menu for the week ahead on a Friday night or Saturday morning and write out the shopping list, and then on a Sunday afternoon, I take 5 – 10 minutes to review and plan my schedule and to-dos for the week ahead. On very busy weekends, I might push the planning to a Monday night but I still like to get it done.

I need to get out once a day at least or else I get cabin fever but other than that, I like to both relax and get things done around the house every weekend. This goes out the window if I have a heat headache but if I’m well, that sounds like the perfect weekend for me.

I’m flexible around my loose plan (typical upholder!) but I do need those first three components to be present, and I feel like I’m winning for the next week too if I get my planning done.

What are the components for you to feel like you’ve had a successful weekend?

Filed Under: 31 days of enough time, Decluttering, Four Tendencies, Goals, Intentional living, Konmari, Menu Planning, Organising, Outer order inner calm, Planning, Reading, Sleep, Stationery, Time management Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
27 October 2016 by 5 Comments

My weekend planning routine

I’ve written before about how I like to organise my weekends.

Laura Vanderkam also has some good ideas in her little book. My favourite insight from that book is that there are 60 hours from Friday night to Monday morning.

60 hours is plenty to get lots of things done.

I usually start the heading in my bullet journal on the Thursday night because that’s when Beth and I chat.

Some things happen every week

A really great weekend for me has these sections covered:

  • out and about
  • productive stuff in the house
  • relaxing
  • computer things (sometimes) like blogging/ photos, etc.

Obviously, the key is to be mindful of what makes a good weekend for you (maybe that’s getting set up with lunches and choosing work clothes for the week ahead).

A great week starts with a well-planned weekend.

Once my list is done, I leave my notebook open so I see it all the time just to keep me focussed throughout the weekend. I’m not obsessively checking my list but every 4 – 6 hours I’ll see it and update.

I like to highlight the entry when done or if I want a cleaner looking page, I put a cross in the block.

I never ever complete my entire list; usually there are about 2 – 3 things undone every weekend but I’ll tell you a secret – on the one or two weekends I don’t even make a list, I feel like I was a complete sloth and that I got nothing done.

What are the categories you like to include in your weekend plans?

Live with intention: make a weekend list this week and tag me @organisingqueen when you post your list on social media (you can blur it if you want to keep things private)



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Filed Under: Intentional living, Organising, Planning, Time management Tagged With: ,
WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com