When Monday morning rolls around, does it take four cups of coffee to get your engine going? Do you find yourself totally discombobulated when you get back to the office? Do you spend your entire eight-hour day trying to get back into the work groove?
The secret to having a better, more successful work week can be summed up in two words: Saturday and Sunday. What you do on these two weekend days can have a huge impact on how motivated and efficient you are on Monday. Here are some tips to use your weekend to create a better work week.
Job Tips: What You Need to Do This Weekend to Have a Better Work Week
Sleep
Some studies have shown that getting an extra hour of sleep on the weekends can be beneficial, especially if you’re sleep deprived. If you’ve been burning the candle at both ends, make a point to get a little extra shut eye on Saturday and Sunday. Just make sure you don’t sleep in too late, as that can throw off your internal clock. Instead, try going to bed early on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night, or getting a short nap in on one of those days, to feel more rested when Monday rolls around.
Budget Your Partying
Of course most of us like to get together with friends, stop by a happy hour event, or go dancing on the weekends. It’s a great way to turn your brain off and blow off some steam after a busy work week. But if you’re staying out late Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it could be hurting your work performance on Monday morning.
Instead of spending the entire weekend out and about, budget your weekend so you have time to play, rest, and get your errands done. Maybe this means that you stay in Friday night, run errands on Saturday, and enjoy a night out with friends on Saturday evening. You have to decide what works best for you, but by cutting down the amount you go out, you’re guaranteed to feel more rested and bright-eyed on Monday morning. (You’ll also probably have a few more bucks in your wallet!)
Get Caught Up
It’s important to spend time with friends and family on the weekends doing things you enjoy, as that’s what let’s you recharge your batteries and be ready to work when Monday rolls around. But as much as you need to indulge in hobbies and lazy time, the weekends are also essential for running errands that can make your week easier.
Think, for example, about the last time you started the week with a dirty apartment, and empty fridge, and a stack of bills to pay. It made for a much more stressful and hectic work week, didn’t it? Next time the weekend rolls around, make a list of what you’d like to have done for the week. It doesn’t have to include every item on your home improvement list, just basic housekeeping, meal planning, and administrative tasks. Think about what could cause you the most stress during the coming week: is it an unopened stack of bills? Cooking for your family during the week? The pile of clothes you need to take to Goodwill? If you can take the weekends to get caught up on these items, you’ll feel a million times better going into the work week.
Prepare On Friday
Just before you leave work on Friday night, take an inventory of your week. Review the projects you completed, what got left hanging in the breeze, and who you need to follow up with. Then, make a list of everything in the priority it needs to be addressed. Put this somewhere on your desk so it will be the first thing you see on Monday morning. By planning your first tasks of the coming week while you’re still in work mode, you’ll have that much more of an advantage when the weekend comes to an end.
