Here’s the problem with being a “weekend work warrior” – Pick Dave’s Brain

Do you have a weekly oasis for refreshment?

This week’s question comes from Ihab in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. He asks:

Q: Often during the weekend I have long, blank spaces in my calendar where I have nothing to do. However, I don’t want to create events during that day that are back-to-back and fill up my day. What’s the best way to deal with these free spaces?

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Don’t sacrifice weekends to your job. Work weekends lead to weak workdays. @DaveCrenshaw

Do you have a weekly oasis for refreshment?

This week’s question comes from Ihab in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. He asks:

Often during the weekend I have long, blank spaces in my calendar where I have nothing to do. However, I don’t want to create events during that day that are back-to-back and fill up my day. What’s the best way to deal with these free spaces?

Dave:

Thank for the question Ihab! I’ve had the privilege of visiting Saudi Arabia on a speaking tour, both Riyadh and Jeddah. And everyone there was extremely friendly and welcoming to me!

Now, on to your question. It looks like you’re in an enviable position! So many people wish that they had lots of free time on the weekend. Let’s talk about a couple of options of what you can do with it.

First, if you’re going to work on something, rather than scheduling lots of appointments, let’s schedule one big appointment. One big chunk of time to work on something.

For instance, I recently spoke with a coaching client who is working on a book. Rather than scheduling an hour here and there for such a deep and creative project, she needs to just dive in. So we scheduled entire days to devote to the process. If you’ve got a deep, engaging project like that—big chunks of time, entire days are great ways to get a lot done.

There’s a second option that it sounds like you haven’t considered, and that is to just do something fun and relaxing. In my new book The Power of Having Fun, I talk about the importance of scheduling recurring “oasis” in your week. An oasis is a period of time that you establish to do something fun and enjoyable. Whatever is meaningful to you, make it a regular part of your week. Why? It is because it helps you be more productive.

There are studies that show that plowing past feelings of boredom and exhaustion are not as effective as occasionally taking a break and relaxing. When you take these breaks, you come back far more focused and far more productive. It creates greater longevity because your health will improve.

I recommend that you think about “what might I do for fun, for relaxation on those days” and devote those days to that. Then go back to work and really work hard on your career.

Thanks for the wonderful question, Ihab.

And if you’ve got a question you’d like me to answer on a future video, you can go to davecrenshaw.com/ask. I look forward to seeing what question you have for me.