It is difficult to avoid stress during the busy working week, but Travis Bradberry* has advice for ensuring weekends can be an antidote.
Stress has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it.
The secret to winning the war against stress lies in what you do when you aren’t working (and presumably aren’t stressed).
While I have a hobby that I engage in regularly (surfing), it isn’t the antidote to stress you might think.
Even if you have a hobby you’re deeply passionate about, you aren’t going to spend more than 10 per cent of your time outside of work doing it.
It’s what you do with the other 90 per cent that really matters.
You need structure to use this 90 per cent wisely; otherwise you’ll fall into bad habits that can magnify your stress.
I structure my time by following 10 rules when I’m not working.
These rules work wonders with one limitation: They don’t work quite as well if you work too much.
Sure, we’re all busy, but if you’re putting in 80-to-90-hour weeks, you won’t have the energy or focus to use your time outside of work wisely.
My rules help me to shift gears to relaxing and rejuvenating activities during my time off.
Disconnect
The most important strategy on this list.
If you can’t find a way to remove yourself electronically from your work, then you’ve never really left work.
Making yourself available to your work 24/7 exposes you to a constant barrage of stressors that prevent you from refocusing and recharging.
If taking the entire weekend off handling work emails and calls isn’t realistic, try designating specific times on Saturday and Sunday for checking them.
Scheduling short blocks of time will alleviate stress without sacrificing availability.
Minimise chores
Chores have the tendency to monopolise your free time.
When this happens, you lose the opportunity to relax and reflect.
What’s worse is that a lot of chores feel like work, and if you spend all weekend doing them, you just put in a seven-day work-week.
You need to schedule your chores like you would anything else during the week.
If you don’t complete them during the allotted time, you move on and finish them the following weekend.
Exercise
You have 48 hours every weekend to make this happen.
Getting your body moving for as little as 10 minutes releases GABA, a soothing neurotransmitter that reduces stress.
Exercise is also a great way to come up with new ideas. Innovators and other successful people know that being outdoors often sparks creativity.
I know that a lot of my best ideas come to me while I’m surfing.
While out in the ocean, the combination of invigorating activity and beautiful scenery creates the perfect environment for an influx of creativity.
Pursue a passion
You might be surprised what happens when you pursue something you’re passionate about during your time off.
Indulging your passions is a great way to escape stress and to open your mind to new ways of thinking.
Things like playing music, reading, writing, painting, or even playing catch with your kids can help stimulate different modes of thought.
Spend quality time with family
This is essential if you want to recharge and relax.
Take your kids to the park, take your spouse to his or her favourite restaurant, and go visit your parents. You’ll be glad you did.
Schedule micro-adventures
Buy tickets to a concert or play, or get reservations for that cool new hotel that just opened downtown.
Instead of running on a treadmill, plan a hike.
Try something you haven’t done before or perhaps something you haven’t done in a long time.
Wake up at the same time
It’s tempting to sleep in on the weekend to catch up on your sleep.
Though it feels good temporarily, having an inconsistent wake-up time disturbs your circadian rhythm (and can aggravate depression).
When you sleep past your regular wake-up time on the weekend, you end up feeling groggy and tired.
This isn’t just disruptive to your day off, it also makes you less productive on Monday because your brain isn’t ready to wake up at your regular time.
If you need to catch up on sleep, go to bed earlier.
Reflect
Use the weekend to contemplate the larger forces that are shaping your industry, your organisation, and your job.
Without the distractions of work, you should be able to see things in a whole new light.
Use this insight to alter your approach to the coming week, improving the efficiency and efficacy of your work.
Designate mornings as ‘me time’
It can be difficult to get time to yourself on the weekends, especially if you have family.
Finding a way to engage in an activity you’re passionate about first thing in the morning can pay massive dividends in happiness and cleanliness of mind.
Your mind achieves peak performance two-to-four hours after you wake up, so get up early to do something physical, and then sit down and engage in something mental.
Prepare for the coming week
As little as 30 minutes of planning can yield significant gains in productivity and reduced stress.
The week feels a lot more manageable when you go into it with a plan because all you have to focus on is execution.
*Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the co-founder of TalentSmart. He can be contacted at TalentSmart.com.
This article first appeared on the TalentSmart website.
