Sunday night. Already.
Where did the weekend go?
It feels like Friday afternoon was just a couple of hours ago!
I’m not ready to go back to work tomorrow.
I haven’t done everything I promised myself I would this weekend…
More and more I am hearing, from family, friends and clients, that the two days we typically have to rest and recuperate every week are no longer enough to get us back on track for the next five days of work.
I can think of a few reasons so many of us are feeling like the weekend doesn’t seem to be long or restorative enough.
Maybe it’s because we’re so close to the end of the year and are working extra hard to finish everything we need to get done in the short time we have left (10 weeks until the mid-December shut-down: eek!).
Perhaps it’s because we’re all so overloaded with worries and overstimulated by concerns about the state of the economy, politics, the country, the world, the environment that it is hard not to feel overwhelmed and exhausted all the time.
For some, it may be that Monday through Friday is spent doing things that are not particularly enjoyable or meaningful and Saturday and Sunday are not enough to compensate for all that boredom and frustration.
I don’t know which wise-guy came up with the idea that two days of down-time was enough for five days of up-time but, sadly, the model is pretty deeply entrenched and probably won’t be changing any time soon. So, to get through the rest of this year, and into the infinity beyond, we need to support ourselves to keep moving forward and to preserve our energy and joy by building regular pauses into our lives.
I recommend that every day you make time to do something (or nothing) that helps to create an oasis of calm in your body, mind and soul. It can be small (drinking a cup of fresh mint tea or walking barefoot on the grass), medium (going to a movie with a friend or reading a magazine or book) or large (having a massage or going away for a weekend).
The possibilities are endless: smelling something delicious, listening to the birds, singing along to a song on the radio, having an afternoon or evening nap, stepping away from the news, stepping away from your smartphone, going for a walk, planning a holiday, creating a vision board…
Right now, spend a few minutes creating a list of all the ways you can create some breathing space in your days this coming week. Be as creative and prolific as possible. Stick it somewhere that makes it easy for you to choose your method of pause (or, even better, pauses) every morning before you start your day.
Don’t wait for next weekend before you rest and recharge – a little pause every day will help to keep the Sunday night blues at bay.
