productivity – The Sol Compass

Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a great week. I was doing some reflecting and realized that I scarcely have that Sunday night feeling of regret/dread that I used to, so I must have learned what works for me in the past few years. While every person is different, these are some things I’ve noticed have helped me

Don’t leave anything unresolved. I know it is tempting to run out the door on Friday afternoon, but I’ve found that it’s worth the extra 15 minutes to stay later and finish everything that I’m working on. I’m the type of person to let an unresolved issue or a conflict I have to address eat away at me for days until it’s solved, so tying up any loose ends on Friday is worth staying late so that I can have a relaxed and stress free weekend.

Schedule downtime for Friday night. There are plenty of weekends when I don’t feel like I need any downtime at all. If I do have a long and tiring week that makes me feel like I need time to do nothing, that time happens on Friday night. Getting myself totally reset right away makes it so much easier for me to get on with my weekend than say, going out Friday night and putting that needed rest time off until later in the weekend, because without hitting that reset button I could just drag on all weekend and never make the most of the weekend. Last weekend was super chilly so I spent the evening reading Bruce Springsteen’s book that’s been sitting on my shelf for months and looking into buying new pots for my growing succulents. It was heavenly!

Get going on Saturday morning. Nothing makes me feel worse than waking up on a weekend morning and scrolling through my Instagram feed for an accidental two hours. Yikes. Instead I go to yoga at 8:30 every Saturday morning. It’s late enough that I can sleep in a little bit if I need to, but early enough that I can’t really dawdle in the morning. Plus I’ve found that yoga is the best weekend exercise since it really resets my hectic mind and allows me to stretch out some of the tension I’ve been holding on to, thus starting my weekend off on a completely clear slate.

Do something you love. Everyone who knows me knows that Saturdays are for adventures. After a long week, or even a short one for that matter, I always look forward to doing things on Saturday. I believe that life has to be lived more than just on vacation, so Saturday is my day to do just that. For me it can be anything from going to a museum, exploring a fellow New England city, or just heading to a cool brunch spot. Saturdays are all about exploration, and trying new things gives me a reason to get up and out of the house on Saturdays. This means if it’s rainy, hitting up a museum or if it’s sunny, hitting up a hiking trail.

Don’t waste Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon by far can be the worst part of the weekend for many people. Sometimes 4 o’clock rolls around and the Monday dread starts to kick in, even though there is still plenty of time left to enjoy the weekend. When football season is over, I find myself making plans for Sunday evening so I don’t collapse on the couch into an endless internet scroll. Sometimes it’s a family dinner to look forward to or a movie night with my mom. In warmer weather, B and I take a twilight stroll or run to work off all the brunch food.

Schedule something to look forward to. B and I have a regular Taco Tuesday reservation for many reasons (the most obvious being our undying love for tacos). This also gives us something to look forward to on Sunday night. Instead of dreading the work week, it’s a great opportunity to look for that early or mid week reward (my parents were always more into rewards than punishments when I was a kid, so this might explain a lot about my belief in the reward system). For others it might be Margarita Monday or a Tuesday spin class… Whatever it is that actually keeps you looking forward into the week.

Don’t spend your entire weekend doing chores. I heard somewhere (presumably Oprah) that housework can take as long as you let it, and it really resonated with me. There’s never really a set end point for chores, especially if you’ve been meaning to clean out a closet or tackle a larger project. Doing chores is just like more work, and really takes away from the enjoyment of a weekend. Instead I’ve been trying to check them off on a weekday evening when I wouldn’t do much other than eat dinner and watch a movie. My current project right now is cleaning out my closet, so instead of spending an entire weekend doing it I’ve been trying to just take out three things to sell or donate every day. It’s easy to do while I’m getting ready, and I’ve found that I might be more willing to part with something if it doesn’t feel like I’m getting rid of so much all at once.