Turn Your Mondays Into Saturdays

Who doesn’t love Saturdays? The sleeping in, the laziness. Many of us spend our entire weeks just waiting for this day, refusing to put any positivity into the other days of the week in the process. We literally wish away our days, praying that Saturday will reach us quickly. Just think for a moment on how many days, hours, minutes of your life you’ve wished away recently. I’m embarrassed to share how many I’ve wished away, all in anticipation of just one 24-hour period. Notice that I’m not saying we’re wishing for the weekend, because what do we do on Sunday? We end up wasting half of that day too, but lamenting on the fact that IT’S ALREADY SUNDAY. How do we begin to make the rest of the days of our week look just as good and be just as fulfilling as those oh-so-coveted Saturdays?

One thing I’ve started to do is actively plan out my week on Sundays. I have a good old-fashioned planner that I physically write in on Sunday afternoons, and within it, I try to focus on everything I want to get done for the week. That’s not a novel idea, but one difference I try and include is something fun, no matter how small, on each day of the week. It can be something silly like planning a tasty lunch or dinner meal, or something useful but equally fun, like a trip to Target. I give myself micro-goals sometimes, because the busy-ness of the week can easily get away from us if we don’t plan for some things. My micro goals tend to include tearing my children away from their devices (it’s harder when they’re older and they say they need them for “homework”) to have 15 minute check-in conversations with them. Those conversations are one of my fun goals for the week, because it helps to ground me and reminds me that the time I have with them is precious.

Another idea? Think about why you’re in the career you’re in, especially if it’s not fulfilling. If you spend your workdays wishing you weren’t there, maybe it’s time for you to make a change. I know it’s oftentimes easier said than done, because we all don’t have it like that to just quit our jobs and chase our dreams. But to make those days more palatable, think about what you’d rather be doing, and actively start to plan for it. DON’T stress yourself out over the fact that you’re NOT doing it, because you’ll tend to go crazy. Those moments can be the foundation for the micro-goals you create to get to your big goal of doing what you love. I carry around a ton of little notebooks in which I write down all of my ideas. I have close to about ten journals that I use interchangeably (which can be sort of a pain when I’m trying to find just ONE thing I wrote down!), but I suggest you just have one or two. One you keep on your desk at work, and one smaller one you carry with you when you’re on the go. Take five to fifteen minutes in your day to write down where you want to be, and then on Sundays, use all of the things you’ve written down to create your micro-goals for the week.

Don’t get it confused though. I’m not saying you shouldn’t love Saturdays, because Saturdays are pretty damn awesome. I am saying that you should love every day, because every day is truly a gift. Don’t spend your time wishing it away, and do what you can to make every one of them meaningful and fulfilling. If you’d like to see some of my favorite planning and writing tools to help make your weeks that much better, stay tuned for next week’s post – and a possible (probable) giveaway!