6 things you can do to make your weekend feel longer
Fact: Weekends fall short on the time required to recover from a workweek. They just do. 48 hours is not enough to recover our bodies, souls, and social lives from the hell they endure from Monday to Friday. So until Americans decide to abandon our obsession with working ourselves to the bone, we’ll have to settle for pretending every weekend is a long weekend.
Although we spend an incredible amount of time working, it’s clear that we have a cultural obsession with the hours that fall between Friday and Sunday evenings. There are songs dedicated to it (shout out to Rihanna), and an insatiable desire for every day to be the weekend. As a result, we’re forced to play Jedi mind tricks on ourselves (sad but true) by coming up with creative ways to make the weekend feel longer than the pitiful 48 hours in which we’re expected to work mental miracles.
Believe it or not, that coveted time of leisure doesn’t have to be limited to two days. Totally unplugging may not be an option — you have to keep your game face on for work — but we’re simply suggesting that you can fake it ’til you make it…to the weekend.
1Host a dinner party mid-week.
Invite some close friends and fam over to the house to catch up on Hump Day happenings. Maybe even have a few sips of an adult beverage (but not too much; calling in drunk is definitely not a good look), and kick back like you don’t have to hit the alarm clock in the morning.
All of this schmoozing with the squad just might trick your mind into thinking you had an extra day off from work.
2Have a (partial) spa day.
Srsly, who says you can’t relax and get your spa on after work on a Wednesday? Take it from us: You *totally* can.
But if you can’t actually afford to spend the day being professionally pampered and fussed over, create a mini-spa at home with some regular drugstore products, candles or incense and a complementary relaxation playlist that will make you feel as zen as you usually do when the weekend rolls around.
3Eat out during the week.
We know all about scheduling Friday night restaurant meet-ups with friends for the sole purpose of catching up on what happened during the week. But exchanging the homemade meals or takeout during the week for an actual sit-down outside of the home with friends is a refreshing departure from the typical workweek routine. (Add some bonus points for mid-week refreshment if you make it through dinner without discussing work.)
4Go to the movies.
There’s something about the dark coolness of a movie theater that completely whisks everything from your mind but the present. The fantasy world that engulfs you from the huge screen overshadows all the stresses happening in your real life (like having to punch a clock the next day because you still haven’t won the lottery, dammit).
Specifically, researchers claim that sad movies help to alleviate pain, and what is the weekend but one of the greatest pain relievers known to modern society?
5Take a day off and do nothing.
This is definitely the most straight-forward of suggestions, but it still requires some mental work on your part. Taking a day off to relax at the house in the middle of the week can quickly morph into a flurry of binge-cleaning, catching up on emails/phone calls, and a lot of other stuff that closely resembles work.
So instead of using your paid time off to handle professional obligations from home, spend the weekday chillaxing, totally unplugged (we know, it sounds impossible), loafing, or going out to brunch just like you would on Sundays.
6Work on a hobby.
With the stresses of the workweek, it’s convenient to relegate the activities you engage in for personal pleasure to the weekend. But it’s awfully difficult to cram both casual and serious types of fun into two days. Instead of (or in addition to) collapsing on the couch after you’ve cooked dinner and tended to yourself and your family, consider getting into a hobby that can bring you a sense of fulfillment — one that isn’t tied to deadlines or a paycheck.
It takes a huge attitude adjustment to pretend like it’s end the end of the work week when it’s actually not, but doing so just might inspire you to get back to the office with a refreshed attitude that will make your actual weekend experience feel even feel better.
