I am really curious how you spend your weekend.
But more importantly, I want to know: what is the healthy balance of weekend versus workweek (if there is such a thing) for you?
I’m pondering this question because I’m writing this on a Sunday, and I am feeling compelled to write.
I have a Sunday morning ritual of having a “bulletproof coffee” while doing the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle on the NYT crossword app (today was the 162nd straight day streak for me!), often with my family assisting.
But the rest of my Sundays are somewhat up in the air. (And Saturdays for that matter!)
So the question becomes: as an entrepreneur, how do you handle the weekend?
Of course, there are always exceptions—projects that come up, deadlines on outlier stuff, etc… I’m talking more about a routine Saturday and Sunday.
One school of thought is to shut down completely on Friday, where you literally and figuratively shut off from all work related thinking for the weekend. The key word being “thinking,” as it is way easier to close off from doing the physical work than it is to think about work all weekend.
Another is to use the weekend to learn and grow but avoid doing “tactical” work. In other words, a placeholder to catch up on podcasts, read, watch videos, etc. This is probably more aligned with my approach. I tend to get to the weekend worn out and like to use some of the time to recharge, and that is often with some form of learning. I find that if I try to avoid “all thought” about the business it just creates more stress…like trying to meditate by having no thoughts at all when thoughts keep flying through!
And the last, and perhaps more common, is “weekend, what is a weekend?” This is when you just work straight on through to the other side, as Jim Morrison would say. This is way more common in the early years of the journey, but for many (including me for a really long time) it becomes ingrained as just what you do.
My take on all of it is that you have to do whatever it is that renews your energy.
If that is completely shutting down, and that has the highest energy renewal, then that is the path.
If it is learning, because that fills your bucket, then make that your weekend ritual.
And if it’s more about working like hell because it creates less worry and stress, knowing that you won’t have to catch up on Monday, then go for it… (Just one word of caution here: don’t delude yourself into believing this isn’t ACTUALLY the least stressful, or that you aren’t doing it out of obligation or guilt.)
In my opinion, the weekend can certainly make you more productive.
In fact, by definition, as you renew your energy, it has to be more productive.
Just don’t confuse productivity for tactical task completion, unless that truly is your “bucket filler.”
Cheers,
John
Founder of the align5 Companies, CEO of Scaling Up Coaches, and Serial Entrepreneur
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