5 ways to escape the escapist weekend

A Guest Post by Tomas Stonkus of Uncertain Change

It is Thursday. You are already thinking about Friday. It is Friday morning. You are thinking about Friday afternoon. It is Friday afternoon. It is here.

What do you do?

We all look forward to weekends because it is the time for us to relax, become refreshed, and energized. Ironically enough, only a few us manage to do that. The rest of us just use the weekends to escape from our problems, troubles, work, and “reality” all together.

Escaping does give us some time to forget everything else, yet it never solves anything.

I would like for all of us to stop escaping from ourselves and from our lives. I would like for all of us to use the weekends to energize our minds, our bodies and escape the escapist weekend. With that in mind, I would like to share little wisdom that I have and give you a couple of practical ways to make the weekends work for you instead of against you.

5 ways to escape the escapist weekend

1. contemplate

Spend time by yourself. Completely alone. Leave all distractions aside and just spend time in complete silence – away from the world. Just be there and think. Think about your life, about where you are going, what you are doing. More importantly, think about why you are doing certain things in your life. Do not be afraid. Nobody is going to judge you, grade you or scold you. This is the time to be honest and courageous with yourself and gain clarity about your own life. If you find thinking too difficult, then get a journal and jot your thoughts down you will see yourself as you really are.

Spend as much time as you think is necessary. Do not force yourself, let it all just come naturally. Your head will be brimming with thoughts about the past week, work, family, friends and so on. It is perfectly fine. Let it be and just watch it as if you were watching a movie. See what you like or what you do not like and think about how you can change it. I will share a secret with you. You know every answer to every single question you ever wanted to know. Just ask yourself and you will have the answer.

2. rest

Rest your body. You had a tough week. Waking up early and going to sleep late is a recipe for a disaster. You can put a stop to that during the weekend. Instead of staying up late, watching movies and then sleeping until noon the next day, find the time to go bed early and wake up early the next day. You will refreshed and ready to go! You might be tempted to lie in bed just a little bit longer or to go to sleep just a little bit later, but try to resist that temptation. You will reap the rewards not only during the weekend, but during the week as well.

Rest your mind. Your mind was working hard the whole week. It wants to rest. It is tired. Do not put any extra stimulus on it by watching television all day, spending it by a computer or reading news. If you absolutely have to use your mind, then try stimulating in such a way that creates a pleasant experience. You could try listening to some beautiful music, reading an entertaining book or just watching the clouds. When was the last time you looked at the sky looking for dragons, castles, birds, or elephants? Try it and feel like a kid again. You will love it. I guarantee it.

3. engage

Engage in something that you love doing. Do something that you always wanted to do, but never had the time to. Engage your mind and your body in activities that are different from what you do every day during the week. Go meet your good friends for a cup of tea. Call your friends and go see a play, an opera or just listen to some of your favorite music. Just do anything to remind yourself that you are alive and that you can have fun.

Doing something physical might help you relieve some stress from the week. It does not have to be anything competitive. Try going for a hike, a walk around the neighborhood or some yoga. Swimming is very calming as well. Sometimes we all neglect our bodies throughout the week, but if they do not experience any positive stress, then they will not grow. Your body wants to help you and be your friend. Do not forget about it.

4. organize

Organize anything that needs organizing. When things are in order and neat on the outside, it helps you to be calmer on the inside as well. You can organize your computer, your desk, room, house, do your laundry and so on. You can organize your life by preparing for the upcoming week by making sure you know your schedule, have all the tasks completed and not forgetting anything essential. If you feel like it, you could even do a couple of errands in advance for the coming week.

Having free time, does not mean that you have to waste it. You can help yourself tremendously by taking care of the small things. Do not overlook the weekend as the perfect time to get yourself together and be “on the top of your game” when the week starts.

5. learn

Is there something that you always wanted to learn. It might be learning a martial art, playing an instrument, learning how to dance, how to scuba dive, a new language, writing a book or a blog. Life is too short not to try new things every once in a while. By learning new things, you might be opening new opportunities. It is never too late to learn. Today is future’s yesterday. Do not hesitate. If you expose yourself to new experiences, you will automatically expose yourself to new people and ultimately make new friends!

More importantly, if you are stuck doing what you do not enjoy, then this is the perfect opportunity to learn a new skill, explore alternative options and set yourself up for a life that you really want.

Two days is a lot of time, if you use it wisely. Don’t pass up this opportunity to change your life for the better.

Tomas Stonkus is the creative genius behind Uncertain Change. If you are looking for honest, blunt and practical ideas on how to lead a multidimensional life, subscribe here.

Photo by Massimo Valiani