Successful People Do These Things Each Weekend

Time management expert Laura Vanderkam reveals the subtle secrets to restorative and productive weekends in her new book ‘What Successful People Do Before Breakfast’.

Your weekends need to feel different from your weekdays, which happens if you rotate in different activities and hobbies you don’t have time to do during the week. Doing a different kind of labor allows your mind and body to recover from the typical stresses you encounter during the week.

Plan it out. Sketch in three to five “anchor” activities. Planning also lets you savor the joy of anticipating something fun; psychology research shows we’re often happier anticipating an event, like a vacation, than we are during or after it.

Do something fun on Sunday night. You could make a tradition of a big dinner with your extended family, take an early-evening yoga class, or find a volunteer opportunity, such as serving meals to those less fortunate.

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Create traditions. Happy families often have special activities they do most weekends that don’t require special planning—Friday night pizza, a walk to morning worship services, Sunday morning pancakes.

Schedule nap time. Encouraging your whole family to have rest time in the mid- to late afternoon ensures you’ll actually take the time out of your busy schedules to let your body rest and recuperate.

Cut down on tech. Encourage your whole family to put away their smartphones for a day, or even a few hours. This forces you to have a different relationship with your spouse, friends, and kids. If you need to work on the weekends, consider a specific window to finish a project or sort through your inbox, rather than periodically checking and writing back to emails all day long. (Adapted by Jessy Pearl)

Source: www.readers digest