So let me guess your weekdays are on point and are dialled in: you know exactly what you’re doing and when, you know what time you’re getting up what time you’re getting breakfast and it’s the same for the rest of the family; you know what time you’re dropping the kids off and picking them up from school, at work you have all of your meetings scheduled, you have a to do list or a calendar with everything in one place – you are an organisation machine.
But if you’re like 99% of people then what happens at the weekend is that it all falls down: you don’t have plans, or everything is left to chance, you were thinking of having a lie in and then you wake up and end up scrolling through your phone only to realise it’s nearly lunchtime and you’ve achieved nothing.
This used to be me – during the week I was on fire, I was super organised and I got A LOT of work done, but then come the weekend I would achieve nothing in terms of my personal goals. Don’t get me wrong, I’d get the housework done and maybe some cooking, but outside of that I didn’t have a routine, I didn’t really have a purpose on weekends.
The first time it occurred to me to plan my own time (i.e. weekends and holidays) and manage my time like the vital resource that it is, was at my first job after university – you know, the one at the dog food factory – listen to episode 10 if you don’t know what I’m talking about.
One day, at the famous dog food factory on the pig farm, I was talking to one of the men that worked there – he was the dad of one of my school friends. He was a lovely bloke, salt of the earth sort of fella, a family man and a very hard worker.
When I asked him what his plans were for that weekend, he told me, “well Karen, I’ll get up at around 7am on Saturday, and I’ll…” I stopped listening to the rest of that sentence, and interrupted him, “Phill, what do you mean you’ll get up so early on a Saturday, why would you do that?” it seemed crazy to me that you would spend all week getting up early for work and then not try to chill out on the weekend.
It was then that Phill gave me one of the best lessons of my life, he said, “Karen, I spend all week getting up early for someone else, so that they can use my time, why wouldn’t I do the same for myself? I want to be able to do things for me and make the most of my time, I don’t want to waste it”.
This was an absolute epiphany to me – Phill viewed his own time as an essential resource not to be wasted, but rather to be harnessed, planned and used carefully to optimum effect.
WOW.
My mind was blown. Ever since that conversation with Phill, I’ve ALWAYS tried to use my time carefully.
I plan my work weeks well: I schedule every second of my day – even leaving time to for “emergencies” it sounds crazy but it works.
For me that’s illustrated in many ways.
For the first 12 years of living in Australia I didn’t own a TV – I had no TV in the house at all – I’ve never been a big fan of the telly, but I also know what an absolute drain it can be on my time.
I don’t have notifications turned on for my phone apps, I also don’t have notifications turned on for my computer emails.
Another key aspect of managing your time on the weekends is learning to say no. It’s easy to get caught up in social obligations or commitments, but if they don’t align with my goals for the weekend, then I’ve learnt that it’s okay to decline. I know that my time is valuable, and I have the power to choose how I spend it – it could be the difference in me achieving my goals or failing.
Honestly when I think about everything I’ve been able to achieve over the last few years just by using my own time wisely, it’s amazing:
I’ve read hundreds of books on finance, property, personal development, leadership, and engineering, I’ve earned two engineering degrees, I’ve attended various courses that have given me new skills, I’ve learnt to script, record, edit and publish podcasts (hello there), I’ve also learned about investing in shares and how to build a share portfolio.
I taught myself how to do conveyancing when I purchased my property, I’ve built businesses, I’ve networked and met new friends, I’ve gained new hobbies, including meditation, ice baths, breathing techniques, the list is endless.
I am a normal 40 something lass, so if I can do it then you can too.
So how do you go about creating a weekend with purpose? Here are my top tips:
- Remove obstacles – ha, I bet you thought I was going to say “make a plan”, nope – that’s tip 2 – tip 1 is all about setting yourself up for success.
For me a satisfying and productive weekend will involve cleaning and tidying my house on a Friday afternoon or evening, so that I am ready to go on Saturday morning – this is also a sneaky trick to prevent me from procrastinating during the rest of the weekend – you see I love to clean and tidy and I often tell myself that I’ll start whatever essential task need to do “after” I’ve done 3 hours of house work.
Remember – I want to set myself up for a productive and purposeful weekend and for me that means getting essential chores and distractions out of the way
So ask yourself what could distract you, and then try to get that covered before Saturday morning rolls around.
Once you know what your potential obstacles are – you can tackle them in advance.
This is a key skill in and of itself. Essentially we are doing something called Objection Handling for ourselves.
“What the f*ck is objection handling” I hear you say…well – once upon a time I was a holiday rep in Greece – I have some great stories but this probably isn’t the time or place to share them – anyway, part of the training that I received, which incidentally was some of the best training I’ve ever had, included sales training and part of that sales training was something called objection handling.
Basically – we would write out all of the possible objections someone would have to not purchasing the product or service we were selling – in this case it would an excursion of some sort – say a booze cruise.
Possible objections from our holiday makers ranged from, “I can’t swim” to, “I don’t drink” – and once we’d written a near exhaustive list of all the possible objections, we then had to come up with legitimate solutions – so you couldn’t lie or make things up, you had to have a genuine solution to the objection.
So for example, if someone couldn’t swim then we’d give them a life jacket and they could still come along and have fun with their mates.
If someone didn’t drink we explained that all the soft drinks on the cruise were free, and there were at least two reps on the boat who also didn’t drink. Plus we all know you don’t need booze to have a good time – there’s nothing like sunbathing on a boat in the middle of the Ionian Sea in summer.
So this is what you’re going to do for yourself – no not write a list of reasons why you need to go on a booze cruise!
I want you to write down all the obstacles that could come up to stop you focusing on what you need to on the weekend.
So for me that’s distractions like cleaning the house, food shopping, catching up with mates, social media.
Then I want you to think of practical, real life solutions to mitigate against these potential show stoppers.
So for my examples:
I’d get the house work done on Friday night, I’ll put my food shopping order in during the week and get it delivered on Friday afternoon, I’d plan my catch ups with my mates on weeknights – that way we don’t stay out late but we still get to have fun, in terms of social media, I never have my notifications on and if I want to concentrate on something else then the phone is switched off and it goes in another room.
so go ahead and write your own objection solutions and objection handle yourself.
2. Tip number 2 is all about setting your intention for the weekend – before the weekend begins, take some time to think about what you want to achieve. It can be absolutely anything from getting some work done on your side hustle to writing a report or reading a book – it’s up to you.
3. Once you’ve done that then tip number 3 is to create a schedule – that means making a plan for your weekend by breaking down your goals into manageable tasks and scheduling time blocks for each one: you can do this however you want, in your head, on a piece of paper or, my personal favourite – an excel spreadsheet.
It’s funny because I’m a lady of extremes, some weekends I have a colour coded spreadsheet split into 30 minute increments and others, I just have a plan in my head of what I want to achieve.
The important thing is to do what works for you – if it’s in your head and you know you will forget or you won’t do it, then try writing it down.
Other things that are important to remember for your weekends include:
4. Taking time to rest – it’s important to include downtime in your schedule to relax, recharge, and avoid burnout.
5. Prioritising self-care – whether it’s getting enough sleep, eating well, or exercising, taking care of yourself will help you feel refreshed and energised.
6. Disconnecting from technology – take a break from your phone, computer or TV to be present in the moment and fully engage in your activities.
7. Spend time with loved ones – spending quality time with family and friends can be both enjoyable and fulfilling.
8. And finally, reflect on your weekend – take some time to reflect on what you achieved, what you learned, and how you can continue to grow and improve in the future.
This was just a quick example of what you can achieve with your weekends when you create for yourself a purposeful weekend.
As always, let me know how you go – I genuinely love hearing from you on social media – I’ve had a few of you DM me now on Instagram @KarenDaviesCoaching and I always try to respond to each and every one of you.