Five Ways Entrepreneurs Can Use the Weekends to Improve the Week Ahead

It’s hard to deny how satisfying and enjoyable it is to reach Friday afternoon. It signals the end of the workweek and a chance to finally disengage from work. However, many of us work so much that we don’t always know how to use the free time we have.

There are activities you can take on throughout the weekend that not only make the days more pleasant, but also give you a springboard for the week ahead. Below are some actions you can take to truly make the most of your weekend as an entrepreneur while also preparing for the upcoming week.

Keep Your Weekly Wake-Up Time

It may be tempting to sleep in, but it isn’t always best for you. You may think you are “catching up,” on sleep, but the sleep cycle doesn’t work that way. Also, if you decide to sleep-in, it will make it challenging to get back to your regular wake-up time on Monday morning. Therefore, do what you can to wake up within at least an hour of your standard wake-up time.

Do Something That Inspires You

When it comes to hobbies, many feel that you should have one that brings in additional income, one that keeps you active, and another that allows you to sharpen your creativity. Well, depending on how you organize your week, it is a good idea to focus on your “creative hobby,” on the weekend. Weekends should be a time of recharging, so take the time to do something that motivates and inspires you. You will thank yourself for it as you go into the new week.

Connect with Family and Friends

You need people in your life that are not clients or business partners. These are the people that keep you grounded and inspire you to be who you are outside of the business you conduct. Therefore, it is imperative that you make spending time with them a priority on the weekend. It will rejuvenate you and remind you that you have a support system that is entirely separate from your professional dealings and contacts. 

Do Nothing

There is something to be said for “doing nothing.” You may think it’s counterintuitive, but believe it or not, doing nothing can seriously benefit your weekly project work. Research and personal accounts have shown that doing nothing can spur your creativity, allowing you to come up with new and novel ideas that you wouldn’t have been able to find otherwise. When you are always in “work mode,” you don’t leave enough space in your mind to create new ideas or optimize what you are already doing. Therefore, if you are in a creative block, try doing nothing.

Learn Something New

Again, during the week, you are in full-force work mode. You don’t have as much time to sit down and truly immerse yourself in a new idea or concept. The weekend makes this much easier to do. Take a Saturday to take a digital marketing course, or read that new strategic planning book on a calm Sunday afternoon. Not only will you retain more, but the “doing nothing” concept also comes into play here. You are more likely to be at your most creative in a calming environment where you aren’t working on projects or taking care of your business activities.

Plan for The Week Ahead

You know that dreaded feeling that starts to creep in on Sunday afternoon. Many have identified this as the “Sunday Blues.” A study revealed that 76 percent of respondents to a Monster.com survey reported having “really bad” Sunday Night Blues. It is a feeling of anxiousness and about what you might face on Monday morning. Many people deal with this, and there are some ways to combat it. One of the main methods is planning ahead. If you take some time on Friday afternoon or even Sunday night to plan out the week, then you can walk into Monday, knowing what you need to tackle. You can maintain some control going into the new week, empowering you to start strong.

Make Those Weekends Count

We aren’t meant to be robots. Our goal is to do the absolute best we can during the week and take a couple of days to regroup and get right back into the grind on Monday. Successful entrepreneurs understand that they need time to reflect, recharge, and re-engage with those around them. Therefore, use your weekend to do all three. You will feel significantly more grounded and motivated as you move from Monday to Friday.

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