Long weekends can sometimes bring pressure. Assuming I am staying in my city, I suddenly feel drawn to do all kinds of big, crazy things that I couldn’t do (or wouldn’t feel I had the time to do) were it a normal two day weekend. The last two Labor Day Weekends, for example, I’ve spent an entire day at one of the New York City beaches with friends. It’s not that I can’t do that any other weekend, but something feels fun about having a totally unplugged beach day in the midst of a long weekend.
A few long weekends ago, I was thinking about the ways to approach this seemingly endless amount of time and how I can squeeze the most life out of it. Sometimes, I take the beach approach—Saturday is for chores and laundry and grocery shopping and meal prep. And Sunday is for spending the entire day reading the New Yorker and reapplying sunscreen at Coney Island.
Another approach is to treat every day like it’s the only day you’ve got. What would I do on my perfect weekend day? In reality, my perfect weekend day isn’t all play. In reality, my perfect weekend day also has me catching up on some personal emails or meal prepping or doing things that make me feel a balance of “a little work, a little play.”
A while ago, a friend of mine was telling me about a conversation with their therapist where their therapist told them to build out their perfect day.
I think about this assignment sometimes. I suppose—approached from a bubble where there are no responsibilities or consequences—an entire day filled with all my favorite activities (running, reading, baking, making travel plans) sounds gorgeous. But the perfect day prompt ends there because I’m not existing in a removed bubble with no responsibilities or consequences. And I am, ultimately, the kind of person who feels overwhelmed by a lack of productivity.
I love running because it helps me focus. I love reading because it makes me relax. I love baking because it gives me space to turn off my brain and lose myself in spices. I love traveling because it inspires me and makes me a better writer and thinker.
But I also love grocery shopping and meal prepping because it sets up my week for success. I love doing laundry because there’s nothing better than showering with a clean bath towel and then crawling into clean pajamas and clean bedsheets (I call it the triple threat of cozy clean). I love my work because it keeps me engaged in the world around me.
And without this balance of work and play, I truly think it would all crumble.
It took me a long, long time to find this balance. Nothing but work is a recipe for disaster. And too many “fun things” eventually makes me feel pretty anxious and unmotivated. It’s been a deeply intentional thing to find out what is best for me. And I feel grateful that I’ve had the time and space to figure that out so I can bring my best self to not just work but also to play. I no longer feel guilty for spending two hours with a good book on a Saturday morning.
So what is my perfect way to spend a long weekend at home? It’s part play. It’s part work. It’s doing things to take care of myself right now and to set myself up for success later. It’s embracing balance. And it’s finding time to do things I love with joy. I hope the same for you this long weekend.
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