A few months ago, I was talking to one of my friends who had just moved out of her parents’ house into her own apartment. She had spent the first year out of college living back home to save some money, so we were talking about the transition to living “on her own.” During the conversation, she asked me something that surprised me: “What do you do on your weekends?” 

The question kind of caught me off guard.  But when I thought about it more, I do remember when I first moved to my apartment & started my first full-time job, my weekends were kinda…weird. Sometimes I’d have a jam packed weekend of seeing friends & doing fun things, and others were just sort of lost because I was ridiculously lazy & barely moved from my couch. Both situations weren’t super great–I either started the work week super tired because I didn’t recharge during the weekend or I felt like I didn’t make the most of my weekend.

There are a lot of studies/articles out there about “making the most of your weekend” & most of them focus on having a balance of fun, social things & relaxing, productive things. So here are a few of my suggestions for making the most of your weekend. You only have 48 hours of freedom, spend them wisely.

Plan it out…But Not Entirely

Obviously, one of the best things about the weekend is that you don’t have a schedule, unlike your work week. And while I’m not suggesting you should plan your whole weekend, I’ve found my best/most relaxing weekends have been where I have some things planned. Otherwise, you’re relying on spontaneous plans that can get stressful or fall through, and that’s not very much fun.

On Wednesday or Thursday (to help you get over that mid-week hump), start planning a few things to do for the weekend. Grab coffee with your sister or make a reservation at that one restaurant you really want to try. Text some friends to plan to go hiking or hit up your S.O. to see if they want to see that new movie. Again, you don’t have to have a exact schedule or even specific timing for these things, but having a general idea of what you want to do will help structure your weekend just a little bit.

Pick a “Productive Day” and a “Lazy Day”

This is a big one for me. Usually during the week, I don’t have time to run errands, clean my room, pay my credit card bill, etc. When I get home from work/yoga, all I want to do is eat dinner and go to bed (maybe blog, hehe). So that leaves a lot of the “productive” things I need to do for the weekend. I’ve found the best way to do this is to pick the “productive” day and the “lazy day” ahead of time.

More often than not, Saturday is when I’m super productive and Sunday is my lazy, hang around day. I personally like running those random errands or throw in a load of laundry on a Saturday morning because I’m relaxed and can take my time, and then on Sunday, I can just relax and not worry about the things I needed to get done (plus, I usually stay in on Friday’s and go out on Saturday’s, so that fits well with the whole productive vs. lazy day thing ;) ) Again, it’s all about balance–if you rather have both mornings reserved for productivity and the evenings for fun/relaxing, that works too! The best weekends, at least for me, are the ones where I got all my sh*t done, but also relaxed too.

Plan Your Week’s Meals

You’ll notice I specifically did not say “meal prep” mostly because I don’t really believe in meal prep (I know, gasp, what kind of millennial blogger am I??). If you like meal prepping, you do you (read about it here), but if you’re like me and thinking about eating the same meal 8+ times in a week makes you want to gag, go with “planning your meals” instead.

How it works? I usually pick two recipes (that will have some leftovers) to make during the week, and then one “staple” meal. For the two recipes, they can take a little more time (but not too complicated) and the “staple” meal is something super quick, easy & a go-to favorite of yours. For example, this week for my two recipes, I made an orzo-broccoli-sausage casserole  & spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs. For my “staple” meal, I have chicken Cesar salad. With this plan, I have a few options to eat throughout the week depending on what I’m feeling. And I make sure to pick recipes that don’t take too much time so I can whip them up on a weeknight so I don’t spend 5 hours on a Sunday meal prepping (because, again, that sounds like the absolute worst).

Try to Workout At Least Once

I usually try to workout on my “productive” day since it’s really hard to motivate yourself to go workout when you’ve spent the last 3 hours on the couch, watching The Office. The weekends are great to get that extra workout in that maybe you skipped during the week (guilty) or you get a chance to try something new that you may not have time for usually. Besides, a good workout will help balance out Friday night’s vodka sodas & Sunday morning’s bottomless mimosas. Speaking of mimosas…

Go to Brunch

I feel like this doesn’t really need an explanation. Brunch is the best. Everyone loves brunch. Weekends were literally made for brunch. Go to brunch & be happy.

Do a Few Chores

Beyond running the errands you need to run, set aside some time to complete some of your chores. Be realistic here about actually how many you’ll get done. Honestly, sometimes I’ll do a few things and just decide I’ve been productive enough for the day and leave a few things for Monday/Tuesday. Oh well, it happens. But if you can, do a few things around the house so you’re all set for the upcoming week. The worst thing is coming home from a stressful day at work to a messy house. Don’t do that to yourself.

Schedule “Me” Time

And actually schedule it & stick to it. I find if I plan some time just for me, I’ll actually do it. I personally like it on a Sunday evening (because it’s nice to wind down/get rid of your scaries) but pick a time that works for you. Plus “me” time can be anything you want. Personally, I love reading in bed & drinking tea. Maybe you go for a walk or watch a movie. Just do something that makes your soul happy :)

What do you love to do on the weekends? How do you recharge? Let me know in the comments &.