Relaxing Ways To Spend Your Weekend

As soon as the clock strikes 5 p.m. on Friday, the excitement starts. Thank God it is Friday, it’s time to relax! We spend our working weeks in a frantic race against deadlines and battling an ever-growing to-do list. Weekends should rejuvenate you, rather than exhaust you or stress you out even more. It’s a mini-vacation from work. Here are five relaxing ways to spend your weekend, and get you charged up for another week.

1.Plan Ahead

It may seem like a contradiction to create a schedule out of your relaxing downtime, but planning a few great “anchor” events will help give your weekend purpose. We all know the mopey sense of despondency that comes from having wasted your weekend hungover on the sofa, but if you work ahead you can maximise the impact of your time off. You can then slot in relaxation and smaller activities – napping, taking the dog for a walk – around the anchor events, such as meeting a friend for lunch or booking tickets to a new exhibition.

2. Exercise

Start your day with a healthy work-out, try something new on this fun exercise weekend, suitable for all abilities. You can choose to run or jog around a field, go swimming or do some yoga. You can also join a group work-out in your community to motivate you. Live a healthy life and burn calories. it’s an excellent way to relax as well as work on your flexibility.

3. Make a conscious effort to disconnect

It’s very difficult to turn off during the weekend but if you really want to re-charge, that’s exactly what you have to do. And this starts with work itself. If you really have to work, try to limit it to two hours a weekend or one weekend a month. Ideally, you should also resist the temptation to check work emails – if your job allows, try disconnecting your account from your phone come Friday night or put your phone on silent with a sound alert for urgent messages only. Invest the limited time you have on yourself, also give social media a break.

4. Visit Places

Go to the zoo, It is so relaxing to be able to walk around and see exotic wildlife and adorable animals all in one place. You can also take pictures, It can be a great way to relax by capturing the wildlife and nature in a photograph. Visit the beach and let the wind from the sea relax your nerves.

5. Spend Time With Loved Ones

It’s hardly the world’s biggest mystery that spending time with people we like makes us healthier and happier. Studies have shown that spending time with loved ones is far more important to well-being and contentedness than say, income or job satisfaction. Your family members know you best, they know what to say or do to make you smile. Loneliness has been proven to be twice as unhealthy as obesity for older people, meaning social interaction is important to your physical and emotional state as well as being desirable.

“We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends,” according to Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert.