4 Smart Habits Successful People Practice In Their Weekends

Use the weekend to build the life you want instead of trying to escape the life you have.

It’s not just what you do from Monday to Friday that determines the results you’re getting in life. What you do during the weekends impacts your health, finances, happiness, and career as well.

Some people live their weekends such that it sets them back in many vital areas of their life. Then, they’re forced to catch up again during the rest of the week.

For others, the weekend is a catalyst for growth and improvement. Let’s look at four smart habits successful people practice during the weekends — which gives them a competitive edge for the rest of the week.

Use The Weekend To Move Forward — Not Backward

As I recently posted on Twitter; use the weekend to build the life you want instead of trying to escape the life you have.

This doesn’t mean you should never go out with friends again, stop playing video games, or quit all the other typical weekend fun stuff. Not at all. I’d hate the weekends if I had to give all of that up.

However, it’s important that you’re honest with yourself. Do you use the weekend merely as an escape from the life you have? Or do you use the weekend to have fun and move forward in life?

For example, if every weekend you get drunk, it moves your health backward.

If every weekend you go shopping or purchase expensive bottles at the club, it moves your finances backward.

And if every weekend you spend a lot of hours watching Netflix, it moves your mental clarity backward.

All in all, if nearly every weekend is filled with activities that move you backward and hardly with habits that move you forward, you’re using the weekend to escape the life you have instead of building the want you want.

Here are examples of habits you can practice during the weekend to help you move forward and create the life you want:

• Spend 30 minutes planning your personal finances and researching investments to build financial security
• Spend quality time with your loved ones to build deep relationships
• Exercise to get energized and build a fit, strong body
• Read business/self-development books or articles related to your industry
• Go for a phone-free walk in nature to create mental clarity and come up with great ideas
• Watch a documentary to learn more about the world
• Do groceries and get healthy foods for the entire week

Again, I want to emphasize there’s nothing wrong with blowing off steam and having fun. In the right amount, it’s healthy. I mean, I go out with friends, watch funny YouTube videos, and play video games too on the weekend.

However, make sure the weekend isn’t only filled with activities that move your health, finances, or mental clarity backward. Do things your future self will thank you for.

When the weekend is over, you should feel like your life has moved forward. You should feel that you’re closer to building the life you want instead of escaping the life you have.

Plan The Entire Week Ahead

By planning your entire week, you create a crystal-clear action plan for the week. From the getgo, you know what to focus on and what your priorities are. This will make you a lot more productive, goal-oriented, and intentional with your time throughout the entire week.

As they say, planning prevents poor performance.

Despite the power of planning, most people don’t plan their days and weeks well enough. And truth is, if you don’t plan your time well enough, it tends to be wasted or spent ineffectively. As Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca once wrote:

“People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time, they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.”

You see, most people say they want to earn more money, have a better relationship, build a fitter body, and achieve other ambitious goals. But, for most people, it merely stays an intention. On a weekly basis, they don’t make much progress towards these intentions.

Most people don’t turn these intentions into a specific plan. And when you don’t plan for success, you won’t achieve it. No matter how strong your intentions are.

One study showed that people who use a schedule and plan their habits are 3x more successful in following through with their habits than people who merely had good intentions but didn’t use a schedule.

In other words, just having the right intention isn’t enough. Feeling motivated alone isn’t enough. If you want to move closer to your goals, you need to plan for it. It’s one of the most effective productivity hacks.

This is why, every Sunday, I plan out my entire week in advance. I look at my long-term goals and make sure each day of the week at least 4 hours are dedicated to making progress towards these goals. I call this creating a ‘goal-oriented’ schedule.

Want to learn a new language? Plan exactly when you’ll practice this week.

Want to write more articles on Medium? Plan the hours when you will do some distraction-free writing.

Want to get that side-hustle off the ground? Grab your calendar and schedule blocks of time to work on it.

All in all, by creating a crystal-clear plan for the week, you’ll be intentional with your time, focused on making progress towards your long-term goals, and less reactive to the ‘busyness’ and ‘mood’ of the day.

When your weekly schedule reflects your priorities, goals, and dreams, you’re already one step ahead of everyone else.

The Week Is For Producing, The Weekend For Consuming

Where Monday to Friday should focus mainly on producing (results, content, high-quality output), the weekend is the perfect time to consume.

I’m not talking about consuming entertainment from social media or Netflix here, although I definitely believe there should be room for that as well in your weekend if you want to. We’re all human.

Instead, I’m specifically talking about consuming content that helps you gain more knowledge, become wiser, and more skilled — preferably so you can produce better results during the week.

During the week, you might be too busy to read books, follow courses, or learn through other methods, as the focus lies on producing. In the weekend, however, there’s usually more time available to consume content that helps you advance in your life and career.

Whether it’s reading Medium articles, watching documentaries, reading non-fiction books, or doing research about your industry — use the weekend to gain a ‘wisdom edge.’ It’s those who consistently learn and improve themselves who get ahead.

Have Fun

When you work hard during the week, you deserve to play hard during the weekend. Again, you don’t want the weekend to move you backward — but it’s important you have fun and let go a bit during the weekend.

You see, especially in the self-development industry, the focus is mostly on the things you can’t or shouldn’t do. Some gurus say you should cancel your Netflix subscription, stop playing video games, and don’t go to parties because you need to work on your side-hustle instead.

But what’s the fun in that? I’d become like a grumpy old man if I gave all of that stuff up.

And believe me, skipping on all the fun stuff won’t do your performance any good during the week either. In fact, studies have shown that happy people are 13% more productive each day than unhappy people.

When you produce great results during the week, and you even practice some productive habits during the weekend, you deserve to have some fun as well. Whether that means binging your favorite Netflix series, playing video games, or doing more active hobbies outside — it’s your party. You decide.

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