I don’t know where all of you live, but in the U.S. our work culture sucks. Working all weekend is a right of passage in order to become a ‘successful’ business person. I don’t think it’s right, and this post is my plea to you to reclaim your weekend. I want you to own every minute of that sucker.
Without having a weekend the weeks just all blend together. Life becomes a never ending cycle of tasks and deadlines. The weekend is supposed to be a break from the mind numbing tasks and constant barrage of emails that come with the 9-5 lifestyle, so make it that way.
I’m not trying to brag here, but, I usually kick my weekend’s ass. My work email remains closed, I might receive a telephone call or two, but that’s the extent of my work efforts for those two glorious days of the week; Saturday and Sunday.
That time is spent relaxing, watching The Office, enjoying great food and (maybe too much) beer, hiking (depending on weather), and all sorts of stuff I like.
Could I be working all weekend? Sure. Do my fellow employees do it? Yup. So how have I managed to do this?
I think it comes down to a few different things.
First, I try as hard as possible to leave no loose ends on Friday. If there is a project that is going to take me past my usual work stopping point, I will press on until it’s finished. Even if that means working a little later than usual. It’s better to get it done and not have to think about it all weekend. Knowing you have to do a specific thing on Monday morning can be quite a drag.
Secondly, I ferociously defend my Sundays. I remember working at a grocery store in high school, and I walked into my manager’s office and said, “I’m not going to work on Sunday’s anymore.” He asked my why, and I just told him that Sunday is my day for church and family. It was fine and I never had a problem. While my grocery bagging duties might not compare with your big time ‘real’ job, this might be something for you to explore. Explain to coworkers that you aren’t answering emails, phone calls, faxes (I can’t believe people still send these) and things of that nature. If you can’t bear not working at least a little on Saturday, at least you have a guaranteed relaxation session on Sunday.
Here’s another idea: Downshift. I could work 40+ hours per week if I wanted to, but I don’t. I work and get paid for 30. Am I an idiot for turning down extra money? Maybe. But I do know that I have tons more time to work on my online businesses and do all kinds of other stuff that I like. All while my bills are still getting paid. Reducing your responsibilities at work could free up a lot of time not only during your work week, but also your weekend. It’s something to consider.
Something else I want to mention is that the benefits that come from simply saying NO are more powerful than you might think. When asked if you can work on something over the weekend, just say no. It’s not going to be the end of the world. The chances are good that waiting until Monday is not going to be a big deal at all.
To wrap this thing up, I want to ask you one question. Are you happy with your job?
If your answer is no, then you have two choices. You can either leave (recommended), or try to make it more bearable until you feel more comfortable with making a change.
If you choose the latter, then owning your weekend is going to make a big difference. Do everything you can to make Saturday and Sunday your refuge. You might just find that Monday-Friday suddenly don’t seem quite as bad anymore.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Good advice here. I take it even further. I typically try to not do work on evenings as well…even during the week. When I leave work, I leave. It’s finding balance for me. I need to re-charge. Ironically (or maybe not :) ), I wouldn’t mind doing work on the weekend if I felt more engaged, which I admit is my own problem to figure out.
Also, I think having more autonomy would help. Have you ever heard of ROWE? If not, google it. These two kick-ass woman at Best Buy created a work environment at a grass roots level at Best Buy that focuses on autonomy and results. It doesn’t matter when you work or where you work as long as you get your work done. By instituting this policy productivity increased dramatically. I think this is for a couple of reasons:
1. People want to feel in control of their lives. Providing autonomy and freedom in work gives employees this feeling of control.
2. The autonomy comes with a sense of responsibility. With ROWE you focus on results, which forces you to really look at what you do and what you will achieve. It requires more interaction with your manager to determine what success looks like and what results you need to achieve, which the employee should actively engage in. In my opinion, this will be the future of the workplace.
First of all i love your layout!
I am very very strict about not checking my work email, answering calls or even thinking about work once I leave the office. It’s so easy to let work bleed into the rest of your life.
Instead I end up spending my entire weekend blogging…
great post Nate. It’s all about priorities and being clear with people – as you said the grocery store were fine when you explained about Sundays. I used to work a lot of hours and although the job was cool, I was always tired, never felt I had time to eat properly and never felt rejuvenated. These days like you I am clear with people what I can and can’t do. As the saying goes, no-one ever wishes they spent more time in the office on their death bed!
@ Nate – I understand what you mean about being engaged with the work. It’s a problem for me too. Lack of engagement leads to lack of motivation. And I love the ROWE, and more businesses should start using it. In every article I’ve read about it, the results seem to be great. People are scared of change though. Thanks for the comment!
@ Stephanie – Glad you like the layout! And blogging is a great way to spend your weekend. I’m glad that’s what you choose to do because it gives me all kinds of good stuff to read :-)
@ Jen – Being clear with people can go a very long way. All it takes is a little meeting and conversation to help people understand what you can and can’t do. More people should take charge like this! Thanks for the comment.
While I think the notion of having time completely free of work related activity is of great importance in keeping yourself fresh and positive, I am a workaholic who has no intention of stopping on the weekend. There is not enough time in the week to full-fill my ambition, and by cutting out weekend work I would never get to my goals.
That being said… Sunday is the day where I get my “rest” from work without actually stopping. I reserve all of my household duties for Sunday, so that they do not interfere on weekday nights and Saturday’s for extra production. For me, if I am not productive, I am unhappy, so a “relaxing” weekend must involve some work!
It’s more important to me to live life and enjoy it immensely than it is to work my butt off nonstop. I love long vacations (6-8 weeks at a time) so I’ll work real hard for a few months, and then take time off to go explore another country, learn a new language, etc. But then I come back again, work hard and save up for the next trip.
I love your message. I agree, our culture here in America is not all that great as far as how we spend our leisure time….
You know, I’ve come to one conclusion: We, as a human population, are a bunch of boneheads. Many people work weekends in a vain attempt to “get ahead,” thinking that they’re propelling themselves forward (when in reality they’re ordering up a mental breakdown), or they work weekends because they haven’t figured out who they are, and don’t know what else to do. I’ve run into people who are workaholics seemingly for lack of something else to do. I’m sure there’s some small percentage of people who go nuts over their work and just love it SO much they can’t get away from it…but, really people? Can we remember that we’re living life in the world, and it extends beyond the big, glass building?
ARGH. Fired up.
@ Aaron – If you like to be busy with work on the weekend than be busy! There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not for everyone. I think your plan about saving household stuff until Sunday is a good idea. You can still exercise your inner workaholic without doing real “work” stuff.
@ Maria – Your way of working for a while to save up, then really enjoying yourself for a while and starting the process all over again is really great. I’m finding that a lot of people do this. They don’t necessarily have a career, just a series of jobs that fund their fun adventures. Thanks for the great comment!
@ Ash – I love that you’re fired up! When aren’t you though? And yes, we are boneheads. One thing I’ve been noticing with someone who is close to me (and who is a horrible workaholic) is that I think they work just because they don’t really know anything else. There’s nothing else even on their mind! I’m glad you brought up that point. Thanks!
Great thoughts. Working for yourself makes this more difficult, but I do try, really!
You are right to ferociously defend your weekend and advise people to do the same, especially if we think that most people work 9-5 (or 9-7 or 9-8) for someone else’s profit!
I personally don’t think it’s absolutely necessary that everybody works 5 days a week to keep the economy going, I believe 3 days a week are enough. Of course we would need to rethink the whole system, redistribute the resources in a more intelligent way than how they do now and allow more people to enjoy life and spend more time doing what they like with people they care about.
Is it a too demanding task? Maybe, but not impossible.