The Weekend Equation

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Most weeks, by the time Friday rolls around, I’m exhausted.

Like most people, I work a 9–5.

And while my job isn’t stressful, the daily rhythm takes its toll.

Especially on the days I commute.

So naturally, I look to the weekend as my time to rest, unwind, and decompress.

But lately I’ve noticed something:

My weekends haven’t actually been weekends.

Instead of resting, I spend most of Saturday and Sunday catching up on all the things I should’ve done during the week: straightening up the home, buying groceries, handling small tasks, and trying to make progress on personal projects I keep putting off.

By the time Monday shows up I don’t feel rested.

I feel behind.

This is a pattern I’ve been struggling with for a while.

I even created a weekend ritual I call the “Hibernation Weekend.”

A weekend with no plans, no phone calls, no emails, and no obligations.

A full retreat from the noise so I can simply breathe.

I’d even enter the Hibernation Weekend in my calendar.

But I haven’t had a true Hibernation Weekend in some time.

Even when I escape to my RV for an off-grid weekend in nature, I find myself trying to catch up on things I should’ve done during the week.

But this past Sunday morning, while I was reflecting, it hit me:

I wasn’t exhausted from the weekend.

I was exhausted from how I used my weekdays.

I’m packing five days of procrastination into two days of freedom.

And that’s when the unexpected memory surfaced of a rule I created during law school.

Back then, my life was nonstop demands.

Between the pressure of law school and maintaining a social life, it was easy to go weeks without catching my breath.

So during my second year of law school, I made a rule:

Sundays were sacred.

• No case law textbooks

• No case briefs

• No obligations

• No phones

• No plans

Every Sunday I’d wake up early, walk to the store, buy the newspaper, make a pot of coffee, prepare a simple breakfast, and get back in bed.

I’d read the paper for hours, maybe nap, and do absolutely nothing else.

It was one day devoted entirely to rest.

And I realized this past Sunday morning that I need that rule back in my life, but for an entire weekend, not just Sundays. More Hibernation Weekends. A lot more.

So that’s the path forward for me: weekends that aren’t about playing catch-up but about decompression, life, and hobbies.

Weekends that give me space instead of stealing it.

The Lesson

Rest isn’t a luxury.

It’s how you reset your operating system.

When you spend your weekends catching up on everything you avoided during the week, you never actually reset.

You just shift the pressure around.

And eventually you pay for it: mentally, physically, and emotionally.

What’s the Point of All This?

The point is to remind you that you may not have a work problem, you may have a weekend allocation problem.

Don’t let disorganization during the week steal the joy from your weekends.

When you intentionally structure your weekends around rest (real rest) everything improves:

• Your focus

• Your mood

• Your energy

• Your productivity during the week

• Your sense of control over your life

Weekends need to be for living.

Weekends need to be the exact opposite of your typical work week.

The Final Point

Your weekends are not a dumping ground for unfinished tasks.

They’re a reset button.

Treat them like the essential part of your life that they are.

Because when you protect your weekends, your weekdays improve.

And when your weekdays improve, your life improves.

Give yourself permission to rest before you’re forced to.

The equation is simple:

Weekends = Decompression + Life + Hobbies

Let everything else wait.

Quote that caught my attention:

“Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges.”

—Bryant McGill

You can find the collection of financial tools & resources that helped me grow from a 6-figure debt to a 6-figure net worth by clicking here.

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