Weekends are hard because we feel pulled in different directions...

Spend quality time with family/children.
Get some rest and unwind.
Move forward on pending work project.

On the one hand, we don’t want to feel structured on our "off days" and, yet, we still want to feel that we’ve accomplished something. Does this resonate?

Lately, I’ve been getting into the habit of taking a few minutes on Fridays to *plan* my weekend. Does this sound over the top to you? It certainly did for me at first.

But, now that I've been doing it for a while, I find that it brings me so much relief...to take a few moments to think intentionally about how I want to feel at the end of the weekend.  

Try writing down three (realistic and simple) things you’d like to have done by the end of the weekend. Subtle things like take a nap, fun things like bake muffins with my son or organizational things like take an hour to get up to speed on monthly expenses.

We know that just by writing down the things we want will make those things more concrete and make us much more likely to accomplish them. Ultimately, you are likely to feel more fulfilled and energized by the end of the week as you enter into the start of a new week.

TRY IT! What do you have to lose? ...Maybe your old way of doing things?

My weekend 'packing list' recommendations:

READ
This current read ("Pussy: a reclamation" by Regena Thomashauer) for me is liberating, empowering and fun in all the ways you would think and, equally, in ways that you might not think...

LISTEN
I'm soaking up the wisdom from Janet Lansbury's podcast to guide me (gently) around my preschooler's testing, triggering and trying behaviour. 

PRACTICE
Do you ever pause before you're about to do something you know you'll regret? It's a skill that, with practice, we can all learn to do  - just like practicing our backhand to improve our tennis game.

This week is Lesson 1 for The MoMentum Coaching Program that I run for moms, and we used the RAIN mindfulness practice to move beyond the emotion-hijack that so many of us experience. Click https://www.mindful.org/tara-brach-rain-mindfulness-practice/ for instructions to try it!