What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekend
good books for bigs and littles
Lately, I re-read Laura's Vanderkam's 168 Hours. I will likely write a post about that book too, since it has now officially made it into the rotation of books I read again and again (this most recent reading was time number 2). So I won't discuss that book in this post.
Reading it, however, made me curious to check out two short companion books Vanderkam scribed. I had a long drive ahead of me and nothing to listen to and so I downloaded the audio books for What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekend and What the Most Successful People Do at Work. Maybe because it's Wednesday (and I'm dreaming of Friday...but a mythical Friday when I get to sleep in), I thought I'd focus on the former for this post.
One of Vanderkam's points--throughout her books--is that it takes conscious planning to make the most out of your life. Your days are numbered, so to speak (except that Vanderkam frames this in terms of hours, rather than days) and so, it merits thinking about how you want to spend them, so you don't waste valuable time.
As she readily acknowledges, people sometimes feels a little strange about doing this for their weekends. It feels a little "Type A," and maybe it is. But personal experience makes me think Vanderkam might be onto something. A few years ago, I did a residency in pediatric physical therapy. At the same time, I was doing a fellowship focusing on leadership in the field of individuals with developmental disabilities. At the same time I was still working part time at my old job, just to make sure I had somewhere to work after the residency was over. Oh, and I was planning my wedding. And moving.
My schedule was very, very busy and, as a coping mechanism, I journaled for a few minutes every morning. One of the main things I wrote about was what I wanted to do that weekend (which, for me, was often only one day). After a while, I noticed a strange phenomenon: the weekends when I only had one day off were often much more fun, more relaxing, and more satisfying than the days when I had two days off. Weird.
Only later, reading this trio of books by Vanderkam, did it occur to me that maybe it was the planning that made the difference.
Either way, upon reading What the Most Successful People do on the Weekend, I've gathered a few tips that I plan on trying out:
1) Observe a "Sabbath." For some people, this is an actual religious observation. But it a larger sense, it can simply be a day of rest. Rest from chores. Rest from work duties. Rest from technology. Whatever it is you need a rest from. With a second baby on the way, it feels like I have a lot to do--both at work and at home. Last Sunday, however, I told myself that for my free hours I was going to take it easy, read the Sunday times, lay in bed. I did and it was lovely. I entered into my Sunday childcare hours rested and relaxed.
2) Plan a few core activities for the weekend, before the weekend hits. Here's where the planning part comes in. As other authors have done, Vanderkam notes that anticipation of a fun event is a big part of the actual enjoyment of that event. Why not give yourself some things to look forward to during the work week? Vanderkam suggests 3-5 activities, allowing the rest of the time to do not much. This weekend, we are traveling and have several fun activities lined up (Easter brunch at one of our favorite restaurants, for example) and I've been looking forward to it for weeks!
3) Spend some time on the weekend strategizing for the week. Unless worrying counts as strategizing, which I'm pretty sure it doesn't, I haven't tried this one yet. But I like it. My tweak on this idea was to spend some time Friday afternoon--when I am generally fried and unproductive anyway--strategizing for the next work week, but to spend some time on the weekend strategizing for other aspects of the week. What do I want to do with my daughter in the limited hours between daycare pick-up and dinner? Can I fit in anything fun with my husband?
4) Lastly, Vanderkam talks about the principle of alignment. Rather than striving to multi-task--doing several conflicting activities at once--try to find activities that naturally go together. For me, one of the big ones is taking the baby and the dog for a walk: Both the dog and I get some exercise, the baby gets some entertainment and we all spend time together. My plan for an upcoming weekend: call a friend and make the same walk a social event.