Weekends can feel like the two-day period where we to cram in all the things we’ve been unable to do throughout the week. Chores, rest, spending time with loved ones, self care, healthy habits, and more. And finding balance between all of those things can be tricky.
But the solution? A weekend morning routine.
Having a weekend morning routine can help you get alllll the things done without feeling like you’re running in circles. They provide the structure that your weekend might currently be lacking.
So if you feel like your weekends are currently being spent doing all the things you have to do instead of the things you want to do, keep reading. Let’s figure out how to balance both.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally would use or do currently use. Please read full disclosure for more information.
Why focus on finding balance in the mornings?
Our bodies have their own internal clock called a circadian rhythm. And while everyone’s rhythm is a little different, they all function relatively the same way.
And of these little functions is that our bodies release different hormones at different types throughout the 24-hour cycle. So in the morning when you wake up, your body releases the ‘wake up’ hormones.
This can help you feel more awake, more energized, and more productive.
As the day goes on, your body naturally begins to lose energy (physically and mentally).
That means that if you want to be your most productive self, the morning is by far the best time to do it.
And as a bonus, getting your ‘task’ type stuff done in the morning means more time for everything else later!
If you’re interested in learning more about circadian rhythms, I deep dive into that in my ebook Cozy Nights, Restful Sleep!
First: Meet your basic needs
When you wake up, your body has certain needs that you should try to fulfill. And these needs are even more important if you have a busy, productivity-filled day.
Plus, taking care of your basic needs kind of doubles as self care! 😉
Here are a few of your basic needs and how to meet them:
Drink water
As soon as you wake up, drink a full glass of water. Don’t jump straight to the coffee or to a sugary beverage. Water first.
Your body can get pretty dehydrated while you’re asleep, so replenishing those liquids is important.
Want to take the hydration a step further? I’ve been using these electrolyte mixes lately and loving them! → LMNT Electrolytes
Eat a protein-rich breakfast
Before you get started on your to-do list, make sure your body feels ready for the day. One of the best ways to do this is to get some protein in. So skip the sugary cereal if you can and opt for something a little healthier.
Yogurt and fruit, an egg sandwich, or even just a protein bar.
Consuming protein in the morning has been shown to enhance cognitive function throughout the day, increase energy levels, help you regular blood sugar, reduce cravings and hunger, and so much more.
Simply put- protein in the morning = real good.
Stretch
Stretching each morning is something our bodies benefit from greatly.
Taking even 2 minutes once you wake up to stretch your muscles and release any tension can make a big difference in how you feel physically throughout the rest of the day.
If you aren’t sure where to start with stretching, here’s an article from Calm that goes over 6 stretches perfect for the morning!
Second: Enter your ‘productivity’ period
So you have a lot of things to get done this weekend, huh?
If your to-do list seems to outweigh the amount of time you have in a weekend (or the amount of time you realistically want to spend doing tasks), how do you navigate it?
Below I’ve outlined a few tips for figuring how to approach your weekend tasks in a way that is both realistic and efficient.
Step 1: Make a to-do list
Grab a piece of paper (I know, old school) and write out all of the tasks you would like to get done this weekend.
Focus on your ‘productivity’ type tasks. For example, cleaning, chores, errands to run, etc. Basically the tasks that require more than a tiny amount of energy out of you.
Step 2: Prioritize that to-do list
Take that to-do list you just wrote out and prioritize all of the tasks. You can use whatever prioritization system you want, but something like a scale of 1-10 is perfect!
This can help us really see what the most crucial tasks are that we NEED to get done this weekend. That way if we run out of time, we know we’ve at least focused on the time-sensitive things and there’s a chance that the tasks left can wait.
Step 3: Pick a few of your most important tasks and break them apart
This will depend on your time-frame, the tasks you have to do, and also how your mind perceives tasks.
But if you struggle with feeling overwhelmed by vague tasks like “clean the bathroom”, then breaking those tasks into smaller pieces can help a lot. For example:
Wipe off the sink. Clean the toilet. Clean the shower.
As someone with ADHD, I even have days where I need the tasks to be more specific than that.
Like instead of “clean the shower”, I need “clean the faucet. clean the tub. clean the shower door.”
Break your tasks down as much as you need to. We want to find the ways to help you be your best self with this weekend morning routine.
Step 4: Put your prioritized tasks under a time limit.
You’ve already figured out what your priority tasks are, which is great. The next step is to keep yourself from having too big of a time window to complete those tasks.
When we give ourselves a loose deadline like “I need to get this task done and then I’ll move onto the next”, it sets us up for failure.
Remember, our brains like to know what’s coming up. So if we just basically say I’ll get to it when I get to it, our brains are left like:
So try this instead: Give yourself a certain amount of time to finish a task.
For example, if you have to clean a room, try doing a 15-minute tidy. Set a timer for 15 minutes and do as much as you can until that timer goes off.
I even do this for writing blog posts, and usually give myself a 30-minute timer to get as much of the post written as I can. This keeps me from wandering too much, getting off on a tangent, or getting stuck on little details that don’t matter.
Once you’re intentional with it, you’ll likely find that you can get a lot done in a much shorter amount of time than you thought!
Also, setting a limited amount of time for a task helps our brains feel a lot less overwhelmed by it. I go deep into this topics and more tips like it in my blog post: How to clean when you’re unmotivated
Third: Make time for self care
Tell me if this sounds familiar- It’s Friday night and you think to yourself “I’m so happy it’s the weekend, I’m going to relax and rest this weekend and it’s going to be so nice”.
Then, at 9 pm on Sunday you realize that you spent the whole weekend doing things that you didn’t really want to be doing and you ended up not having time to relax.
First of all, I will briefly say that the concept of weekends is dumb and a 5-day workweek and living for the weekends is not a great setup for anyone. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, and a little like you’re stuck on the hamster wheel, you’re not alone. And you’re not doing anything wrong.
(P.S. If you’re into podcasts, I recently listed to this episode (The Psychology of the 9-5) of The Psychology of Your 20s podcast and it was a really cozy listen!)
But I want to help you feel like you’re at least starting to get off of the hamster wheel.
So let’s figure out how you can realistically fit rest, relaxation, and self care into your weekend.
Schedule it in
Self care isn’t something that should be an ‘if I get time’ task. Self care is important- just as important as our chores, our work, any every other obligation we have.
So actually scheduling it, while it feels silly to do, can actually be just what we need.
I’ve been able to start doing this more consciously by using an hourly planner. Just like you figured out a time-frame for your productivity tasks, figure out a time frame for this too.
You can either add this in before or after your productivity tasks, or intertwine it with those tasks. We’ll talk about both below.
Self care and chores.. at the same time?
I’m not usually one to recommend multi-tasking because I think it often has more cons than pros, but here is an instance when I think it’s okay.
Self care is a must-do. And weekends aren’t long enough, we all know that.
So adding self care in with your productive tasks can help you actually be able to get it all done.
This might look like watching your favorite TV show while you fold laundry.
Or taking a walk with a friend instead of going to the gym alone.
This is essentially ‘habit stacking’!
Pomodoro method- the self care version
If you’re unfamiliar with the Pomodoro method, it’s basically setting a timer for productivity (example 20 minutes), then a timer after that for a break period (say 5 minutes), then repeating that.
But what if your ‘break’ timer was actually for self care? And it the break time doesn’t have to be shorter than the ‘productivity’ time.
You can do 20 minutes of cleaning followed by 20 minutes of sitting on your porch reading a book, then back to cleaning.
Find what works for you, and give this method a whirl.
Pssst… want some self care ideas for busy days like these? Read this → 6 Self Care Ideas for Busy People
Having a weekend that truly helps you unwind & decompress is all about going about it in the right way. I hope this post helped you find inspiration for a weekend morning routine that truly works for you.
What’s your favorite thing to do on the weekend? Let me know in the comments.
Don’t forget to grab your productive morning routine check list for FREE!
Want to save this post for later?
Leave a Reply