7 bad weekend habits that can totally wreck your week before it even starts
Without even realizing it, many people who live for those moments between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon give little consideration to the fact that how they spend their weekends could be ruining the other five days of the week. Honestly, most of us would rather our employers make our weekends longer so we could experience that fleeting feeling of freedom and time away from on-the-job pressures that bombard us throughout the week.
But since the adult thing to do is to take accountability for our issues, we have to own the fact that some of our really bad weekend habits can actually work against us, wrecking our work week before it even has the chance to be great.
Here are some of the worst offenders:
1Binge-sleeping.
After surviving the sleepless week from hell, you plan to recover and recoup your snooze losses by sleeping the weekend away, only rousing from your slumber to pee and grab a quick snack before disappearing into your bed once again. For sleep lovers, this sound like bliss, but studies have shown binge-sleeping to be bad for creativity.
If you want your creative juices to flow smoothly throughout the week, consider scaling back on the marathon sleep sessions.
2Binge-watching TV.
From Friday through Sunday, you watch various plot lines unfold on instead of handling other important responsibilities like bathing, sleeping, interacting with other humans, and responding to your mom’s frantic “are you alive?!?” texts. Still, you feel so accomplished after taking in all those episodes, but you probably won’t feel that way when it’s time start your week.
As Variety reports, binge-watching comes with major health risks such as a negative impact on “mood and cognitive abilities.” Additionally, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine says it can increase the likelihood of being involved “in a workplace accident or drowsy-driving crash,” which honestly sounds like the makings of the worst week ever.
3Drinking too much.
Obviously, hitting the bottle too hard isn’t beneficial for any day of the week, but if you go on a two-day drinking spree, don’t be surprised if your body needs the first couple of days of the week to recover.
As Greatist reports,
“Research also suggests that binge drinking may lead to insomnia symptoms, a higher risk of injury for women in particular (so that explains those mystery bruises), and an earlier risk of stroke—just to name a few.[/quotes]
4Cramming as many chores as you can into a 48-hour period.
Many people feel like the weekend is the only time they’ll have the energy (and time) for mundane chores like doing laundry, vacuuming the layer of dog hair that’s started to blend with the carpet, picking up dry cleaning, etc. But if you’re going to spend the majority of your weekend working, rest assured you will feel it when it’s time to go back to your actual job (ya know, the one that pays your bills).
Instead, try prioritizing errands and chores and only doing those that truly are pressing and leave the others for another time.
5Not taking a social media break.
Scrolling, liking, commenting, and interacting with strangers and friends online may feel like light work, but non-stop immersion in a digital space can be extremely toxic to your life.
Studies have shown that social media can exacerbate feelings of loneliness and trigger depression. So if you you want to put yourself in a better mental space and make the most of your downtime so you can start your week off feeling rested and upbeat, limit your time on social media and spend some quality time offline.
6You get antsy on Sunday evenings.
Prior to battling the infamous Case of the Mondays, you experience a preview of this weekly fight that is also known as the Sunday Night Blues. Regardless of how awesome your weekend was, the light feeling you’ve had for the past couple of days is replaced by a heavy sense of dread over having to return to work.
According to Mic, a 2015 study conducted by Monster found that 76 percent of those surveyed reported feeling the Sunday blues ahead of the work week.
Try taking some time out to meditate or journal to get to the bottom of what’s really causing you panic every Sunday evening.
7Going hard on the junk food.
After eating clean all week, you deserve to indulge. We’re not here to argue with that! We totally get the urge to give into all of your cravings, but apparently your gut really doesn’t like it when you eat super healthy during the week only to binge on junk on the weekends.
The Science Explorer cites a study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research that claims this form of yo-yo dieting is just as detrimental as eating junk food on a regular basis. Yikes. Either way, spending your weekend subsisting on every unhealthy food item is a setup for a weekend filled with potential gastrointestinal issues and one hell of a sugar crash.
While you’re trying to squeeze in all the activities that you can’t complete between Monday and Friday, make sure you leave enough time for the necessary weekend R&R so you can look forward to every day of the week.
