Taking care of yourself is the most important thing that you can do. Without taking good care of yourself, you can quickly fall into a pattern of frustration, disappointment, and regret. One of the best ways to combat this is to plan some self-care weekend activities to help you stay on the right track.
By using your weekend to focus on self-care, you will begin to see your weekends as more of a true time to relax and recharge. Some activities that are great to do on weekends are things like getting outdoors, watching a favorite movie, and calling a friend without distraction.
With the activities described in this article, you will find your weekends to be much more beneficial. With these self-care weekend activities, you will become a much happier, more relaxed person at the start of each week.
This post is all about self-care weekend activities that you can start right away!
Self-Care Weekend Activities
Using your weekend to recharge and relax is pretty typical for most people, but sometimes they do not go about it in the most productive way.
Oftentimes, people “relax” by mindlessly scrolling on their phones or sleeping in super late on weekends. Don’t get me wrong, I am guilty of doing these things too, but we should all work to avoid these bad habits. While these activities may be relaxing for some, they are not the most productive. There are plenty of other self-care weekend activities you can do that will be both relaxing and productive. Continue reading to learn about some of them!
What is self-care and why is it important?
Self-care is generally defined as doing activities that promote your own health and well-being. These usually involve improving your sleep, lowering your stress level, and following up on responsibilities. You probably already have a decent self-care routine that works for you. This post is here to help you make that routine more effective and efficient!
As the definition implies, self-care is important to maintaining your own well-being. With good self-care habits, you will find that you are relaxed, stress-free, and on top of things. With poor self-care, you will feel “off-balance” and will struggle to ever really catch up. Unless you like the sound of option number 2, you need to prioritize self-care. The self-care weekend activities described in this post will help you do just that!
1. Get plenty of rest
The weekend is the perfect time to work on resting up for the week ahead. This includes getting an optimal amount of sleep, taking naps if needed, and generally taking it easy.
The weekends are the perfect opportunity to catch up on any sleep you may have been missing from the previous week. It is pretty common to sleep less than usual during the busy workweek, so try to get up to your usual optimal number of hours on the weekend!
It also may have just been a while since you had the opportunity to get uninterrupted sleep. During the week we often have alarms set, cars coming and going on the street at all hours, and stress from work keeping us up at night. All of these things are preventing you from getting real, restful sleep. On the weekend, things tend to be calmer. Try to skip your alarm on the weekend and wake up when your body is ready!
On the other hand, it is important not to overdo the extra rest. If you sleep in a little too much, you will mess up your body’s internal clock. For example, if you usually wake up at 6 AM during the week but change that to 8 or 9 AM on the weekends I bet you struggle to wake up easily on Mondays. This is just because your body is getting stuck trying to figure out which rhythm to follow. Try to keep your sleep relatively consistent if possible, in order to help yourself stay rested always.
It is also important to note that extra sleep on the weekends cannot completely make up for a lack of sleep during the week. Try to maintain a consistent, optimal amount of sleep all week long!
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2. Get outdoors
During the week it can be difficult to get a lot done outside of your necessary daily tasks, your work, and your sleep. This can be especially difficult during the winter when the sun is setting extra early. For many people, it is easy to sacrifice time getting outdoors to exercise or relax. That time might seem unimportant during the week, but spending time with nature is a great self-care activity.
According to a study from Science Reports, just 2 hours of outdoor time per week can provide positive health effects, including lowering stress and relieving feelings of burnout. Being in nature can also relax tension in your body and lower your blood pressure.
The best part about this self-care weekend activity is that you do not even need to be active to get it done! You can simply go out on your deck or to a nearby park and have a picnic or do a short walk. These benefits come just from the simple fact that you are outside and enjoying nature.
Adults can easily spend over 80% of their time indoors due to work and other responsibilities, so maximizing that 20% of outdoor time on the weekend is a great idea for self-care!
3. Call a friend and talk with no distractions
During the week, we are usually crazy busy between working at the office, commuting, and dealing with important at-home tasks. Sometimes we think that we can multitask and do some of those same activities while catching up with a friend. While that is a great idea for time management, it can be difficult to really listen to the other person and get to talk with them.
Don’t get me wrong, I completely agree with this type of multitasking, but from time to time it is nice to have a conversation with undivided attention. Since the week is so busy, a great time to do this is on the weekend when you are free. It can be surprisingly relaxing to catch up with a friend you haven’t spoken to in a bit, especially when you are focused on them!
Try and schedule a phone call with a friend for an upcoming weekend. I am sure you will be surprised by how great it feels to really listen, chat, and give your total and undivided attention to that person!
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4. Visit a new place
This self-care activity can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. You could see it as visiting a new location far from home, close to home, or halfway around the world. Whatever you see it as the idea is the same!
The weekends (or longer depending on location!) are a great time to visit new places. You would be surprised at how far you can go and how much you can see in just a short couple of days. Getting to go out and visit somewhere new, even if it is in your same general area, is a great way to freshen your perspective on the world around you. Seeing new things breaks the pattern of a monotonous life filled with work and chores.
You may think to yourself, “Well I like where I am now, why would I want to go somewhere new?” This may be true, but I want you to trust me. I can be the same way sometimes, but when I do go out there and try something new, I find that it is a great experience. Nothing can substitute what it is like to see new sights, try new food, or cross off a bucket list item. Give it a try!
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5. Have a night at home
Sometimes all you want to do is relax at home and take a break from other people or responsibilities. This is probably my favorite self-care weekend activity. I love the feeling of relaxation that comes from hanging out at home and knowing that nobody is counting on you.
Having a night at home for yourself can go a lot of different ways. If you are anything like me, you will enjoy getting into comfy clothes, cooking a favorite meal (or going out), and watching a movie with a favorite dessert. To me, that is the epitome of self-care and relaxation.
For you, that may look a little different. Maybe it involves having friends over and chatting till you are practically falling asleep. Or maybe it involves a long bath followed by an early bedtime.
Whatever it may be for you, finding your ideal night at home focused on self-care is important!
Self-care should be an important part of your life, and getting it done on the weekends is a great idea! I hope that this post helps you discover more self-care activities that you can get started right away. Leave a comment below or send an email to us at ourteam@wellroundedyou.com if you have any questions or suggestions. Thanks for reading!
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