Wanna reduce your stress? Make your weekends count!
Everybody loves a weekend, right? The weekend usually means a couple of days off from work. But did you know there are even more benefits? Weekends may be short…but they’re also mighty!
Weekends provide a definite benefit in terms of stress relief if/when you are able to detach from your regular routine. If you get away from home occasionally, your stress levels can decrease even further. Leaving your normal environment for a short period of time to experience something different or new can be rejuvenating.
Weekends give us the opportunity to sleep more and better, and with the time away from work, we can relax and clear our minds.
According to a study in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology (* Ryan, et al), weekends provide us with a sense of freedom and autonomy, both of which contribute to a feeling of higher vitality, increased positive mood and overall wellness.
Plus, they’re easy to plan and they don’t have to cost a lot of money.
It’s all good.
Assuming, of course, that you don’t burn up your weekends with mundane chores, and that you don’t go into work or even check work emails.
I get it. Housecleaning, yard work, errands, etc. all have to be done. In an ideal world, you could outsource it all. But if you can’t and if the weekend is the only time you can do these things, at least make space in the weekend for some downtime. For fun, relaxation, getting together with friends or family, enjoying the outdoors and to slow down.
If you have to have a schedule on the weekend…make sure it’s not rigid. The best way to achieve a sense of freedom and autonomy is to do the things that you want to do, when you want to do them. Make this a priority and plan your chores around these things. Not the other way around. It’s too easy to get caught up in doing chores and then suddenly realizing that you’re exhausted or that the day is gone. Don’t’ do this to yourself. Take advantage of the weekend.
Speaking of weekends…did you realize that there are only 13 weekends in summer? Remember those frigid days and nights of winter when we dream of summer. Our bodies and our minds longing for the sunshine and warmth. Quite simply, there is no more beautiful place to be in summer than right here. If only it would last forever ?
When we’re standing at the end of June, it feels like we’ve got lots of time ahead. But the unfortunate reality is that it’s fleeting. And it can be over before you know it.
13 summer weekends. That’s all we’ve got. So take full advantage and reduce your stress, get out of your regular routine and fill up with that incredible sense of freedom, autonomy and wellness. There’s more to life than work. Weekends are a great reminder of this.
Have you given any thought to what your Summer of 2019 will look like? How will you spend your 13 weekends?
Cheers to a wonderful summer of relaxation and memory making.
Penney