If you are like me, it feels like a few hours just pass by from hip hooray ‪on Friday night until Sunday afternoon‬. Suddenly, it is ‪3 PM‬ and oh…. in a few hours our weekend will be gone for another 5 days. At that point of the day, I found my brain frantically list out everything I wish to do on the weekend yet continue to be a ‘wish list’. Where has my weekend gone??? Did it leave me without saying goodbye? For all parents (especially with small kids) around the world, you know what happened. Our weekends are gone by feeding the kids, giving them baths, building Legos, playing hide and seek and the housework! But no please no…..it cannot be like that for 48 hours of Saturday and Sunday. We sure can do something called ’weekend management’ and slip our personal life, dream project or some mind resting into our schedule. It could be that half an hour your kid take a nap, just don’t go staring at your phone, do something else. I suggest you put whatever project you want to do on the ‘weekend planning list’. It could also contain names of those books you want to read or someplace you want to go. This way you will have a list of your precious weekend-to-do ready. Now you can look at them when you suddenly have free time and spend a little time with an activity from the list. Better than that you can make it a part of your day like a looking-forward activity for your family.

I gather 10 things you could do to enhance the quality of your weekend. You might find this list not much on the ‘rest’ side as the header. However, to rest for me is not only sleeping or getting a massage but to fulfill ourselves for what missing during the work week. Any activities that uplift our mood count.
Let’s dive into it.

1. Cooking your favorite meal or trying a new recipe. It could be spaghetti carbonara or the lean version of pesto pasta that you love. It could be the new Matcha scone recipe that you want to try. The delicious home-cooking meal on weekend surely will bring you a homey feeling. It can also be the bonding time with your family. My 4-year-old son loves to help me whenever I’m baking. Spending time cooking together and eating together after a long busy week is something to tell that you are already home.
2. Doing something new or visiting new places. I always have a list of new cafes, restaurants or parks that I want to visit noted in my journal. If any weekend, we have a good window time to go out then I’m not wasting too much time to figure out the destination. Trying new things or going to unknown places on the weekend will of course bring us a different kind of experience from what we gain on our weekdays so why not go out and explore your city.
3. Watching an intriguing movie. If you don’t have any time to go out or even a free time to yourself during the day, how about watching an enthralling movie at night? A good movie could bring us out of our present life for an hour or two, one way to take a break. Want to travel but cannot leave home? watch a movie that was built in your dream country and savor the beautiful scenes. My favorites are ’Paris can wait’ for France, ’Something’s Gotta Give’ for Hamptons, ’Love Actually’ For England. ‘The Proposal’ for Alaska. Yes, I love these heartwarming movies. It somehow cures my wanna-have-vacation syndrome.
4. Decluttering. It definitely will clear your mind because you will get a sense of cleaning accomplishment. Don’t have time for big decluttering? Try a small action such as clearing a side desk or a countertop. Don’t even have time for that? Try even smaller declutter like selecting a few magazines or unused items and drop into your donation bin. This could help in the long run. At least you have a bit more space to rest your eye.
5. Reading a chapter of the book in your to-read list. Prepare your book or kindle or tablet by your side and pick them up whenever you have free time.
6. Making one small progress on your goal. I believe everyone has at least one personal goal. Whether it is a small short-term goal or a dream project. Let’s make a little move on that on your weekend. It can be doing google research if that is needed for your big project or it can be planning next week healthy food if your goal is to eat better.
7. Pampering yourself with one of your weekly beauty routine. Or it could be a long bath perhaps. The key is to relax and pause to savor that nice moment.
8. Practicing art. If your work requires constant utilization of your left brain such as planning, analyzing, calculating or writing, why not utilize another side of your brain during your day off. The activity that will activate your right brain includes drawing (or just doodling), painting, hand lettering, playing music and making handicraft. It is like taking a break for lefty brain person. I’m not sure it work vice versa with righty-brain people, please share with me if you have any idea.
9. Planning your life. Squeeze out 30 minutes to plan your next week or next month. It soothes our mind when we have plan and it takes a lot of chaos in your head out. Besides putting important ‘to-do’ items, you may come up with ‘should-do’ items just to improve the quality of your future self.

10. Last but not least having Dinner/lunch with your parents. If they live not too far from you, a stop by is always what they are waiting for. If they are far from you, a phone call or face call is appreciated. Even better if you can spend time with them for one meal. It will make your weekend and their weekend meaningful, I don’t have to say more.

I hope you enjoy my list and I wish you all a wonderful weekend 🙂