The weekend is almost here, and you can finally relax! Sort of….Though weekends can be an excellent time to recharge and recoup from your stressful week, they often don’t leave us feeling as refreshed as we imagined. Most people spend their weekends in one of two ways. 

They either cram everything they possibly can into a weekend, like going out, running errands and talking to all their friends, that they find themselves burnt out when Monday morning rolls around.  Or, they veg out completely. That means they hardly get up from their beds, watch multiple seasons a day on Netflix, and don’t shower regularly. 

So how can we combine these two things? How can you feel rested and still have fun each weekend? I have the tips to help you out.

Set Aside Time To Rest

Don’t book your weekend completely up. Make sure that you leave some time to sleep in, watch a movie, read a book, or take a relaxing bath. You need to detox and de-stress from your busy week, so don’t spend your weekend just running around. Yes, things still need to get done on the weekends, but you also need to spend some downtime so that you can be at your best to get those things done. So take a couple of hours on your Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, and just rest.

Schedule Time With Friends

Weekends are a great time to meet up and spend quality time with your besties, but, don’t run yourself into the ground. Try to get a group of friends to go out to eat or go to the bar so that you can see plenty of people. Set aside a time to catch up with a couple of friends intentionally, but not so much that you are burnt out from people and don’t want to talk to anyone. It can help to try to make your weekend plans earlier in the week. Leave your Friday nights, Saturday nights and afternoon, and Sunday afternoon available to meet with friends. But, don’t use all those times or you are going to be majorly peopled out.

Plan A Time To Run Errands

Running errands like grocery shopping, going to the laundromat, going to doctor’s appointments, etc., can be no fun. But, they do serve a purpose. I would suggest trying to clean your house or go grocery shopping on Friday night after work before your weekend really starts. That way you won’t have it on your mind for the next two days. Or, try running a couple of errands after work each day. I know that the first you want to do when you get out of work is run home and eat, but it might free up your weekend to take a different approach.

Limit The Netflix

I know that watching TV for hours can sound like an excellent idea at the time, but it might leave you feeling majorly dissatisfied with how you spend your time this weekend. Not to mention, a huge time waster. So why don’t you set certain hours where you allow yourself to watch TV this weekend? That could include having a huge binge-watching time one day or night, but, make sure that you are doing other things to relax that involve you not staring at a screen.

Call Your Parents

Take some time each weekend to catch up with who matters the most, your family. Tell your mom how much you love her, and endure some of your dad’s terrible jokes. Talk to your family and try to set a time that you can talk with them consistently each weekend.

Eat Out

You’ve cooked enough this week, so treat yourself to a night out. This could be ordering in, getting a pizza, or going out to eat with friends. Don’t break your budget, but set aside some money for not cooking each week. Does anyone cook dinner on Friday night anyway?

Go Makeup-Less

I know that this might be an easier task for some of you than others, but why not try a day makeup-free. This can be an excellent opportunity to give your skin a much-needed break. And, you’ll get to itch your eyes whenever you want! Take a couple of hours on Saturday morning to just bum around the house, remove your makeup when you go home on Friday night, or just spend all day Sunday without a trace of mascara.

Take A Social Media Cleanse

If your job is anything like mine, you might spend most of your week staring at a computer screen. And then you might go home and spend ample amounts of time staring at the screen on your phone. But, this weekend, take some time to detox from social media. The world is not going to explode if you miss your old high school friend’s Instagram update. Be intentional with those around you, not with those on the internet. For more tips on this, check out our article here.

In conclusion, there are so many things you can do to make your weekends more productive and relaxing. If you have any other tips you’d like to share, feel free to comment them below!