I used to be a madwoman on the weekends. Dr. D. avoided me Saturday mornings as I rode around on my broom frantically trying to cram in as many tasks before noon as possible. As a busy working mother, I found that my weekends were consumed with catching up on all of the stuff I couldn’t get done during the week — laundry, cooking, errands, you name it. Even before becoming a mother I tended to treat the weekends as an extension of my work week. Not that I didn’t have any fun, but Saturday and Sunday days were for catching up on work-related reading, responding to email and planning out the next week.
A typical Saturday morning for me would include an early morning Weight Watchers meeting, grabbing a latte at Starbucks and then on to my weekly run to the dry cleaner, grocery store and various other pit stops along the way. I’d squeeze in a workout while D2 was napping and do piles of laundry. Sundays were consumed with church and then I’d spend the afternoon cooking two to three dishes for the week. All of this activity left me feeling frazzled and guilty that I wasn’t spending enough quality time with my family. A few months ago, I decided I needed to take a step back and reclaim the white space in my weekends. First I sat down and thought about what my weekends were really worth to me. I cherish my family time. And I know I’m at my best when I have a few hours of down time on my own to recharge. So here’s what’s changed for me:
I don’t pretend to have cracked the code to having a less frantic weekend but taking these few steps has dramatically improved the quality of my weekends. Bonus? I actually have time to relax. What’s your strategy for managing the weekend?