It’s that unfortunate time of the year again. Homework is piling up, mid-terms are on the horizon and deadlines are approaching. It’s easy to fall into a “mid-semester slump” and feel like you’re just going through the motions. Monday through Thursday can feel like a never-ending cycle of waking up, powering through and telling yourself, “just a couple more days until the weekend.” But what if the weekdays could feel just as rewarding as the weekend? In this article, I’m going to share some tips on how to reclaim your weekdays and help you stop just surviving them and start embracing them.
Win the Day
It is almost a given that we are going to feel our best on Friday and Saturday. No classes the next day, homework is all done and tests have been taken. We can finally relax and welcome the endless possibilities of the weekend. But that’s only two out of seven days of the week. What about the other five?
I recently started implementing the concept “win the day,” and I have already started seeing change. The goal is to “win” at least four days throughout the week. This can imply that you win Friday and Saturday, which leaves Sunday through Thursday up for grabs. Winning the day is ultimately up to you but it isn’t about perfection. It’s a matter of focusing on what you can control and cultivating a positive mindset.
Not every day is going to be a win. Maybe you did badly on a test, got rained on on the way to class or just straight up had a bad day. Those days you can’t always win. What matters is how you make the most of the other days, because the days that aren’t perfect help us appreciate the ones that are. Try this framework out in your own life and see if there’s a difference!
Small Changes = Big Impact
If you always wake up dreading Monday, it is likely that the rest of your week will feel like a chore. Telling yourself to just “get through” the week makes you default to survival mode. You will stop looking for small moments of joy because you have already accepted that they won’t be there. If you start your week off from a place of resistance, every small inconvenience will feel heavier and every task will feel bigger.
Instead, try waking up on Monday with intention. Give yourself permission to make Monday a good day. Rather than snoozing your alarm 10 times, listen to your favorite music while you get ready. Eat your favorite breakfast or go get coffee from your favorite place. It might feel like a small change and may feel weird at first, but that’s the whole point!
Making tiny tweaks to your already established routine will interrupt the dreadful cycle that you have created and shift it into something that feels good. Change the way you approach Monday instead of waking up wishing your week was already over.
Plan Mid-Week Activities
I never used to watch “Dancing with the Stars.” I couldn’t care less about the people on it, their performances or who won. But let me tell you, now, every Tuesday I get the newest episode queued up and I’m eager to press play at exactly 7 p.m. So what changed?
My friends would not stop talking about it. They knew all of the performers’ names and all of the lore behind each partnership. So, one day I just sat down and watched with them. After watching it for the first time, I thought “wow, I actually enjoyed that.” So now, every week I look forward to hanging out with my friends and watching the latest episode. We even started doing this thing where each week someone different brings a sweet treat to eat while we watch. It’s something so simple, but it makes me look forward to Tuesdays sometimes even more than I look forward to Fridays.
Having something planned during the week, whether it’s an outing or just a self-care day by yourself, can drastically change how you view the weekdays. It shifts your mindset from waiting for the weekend to allowing yourself to live in the moment. It doesn’t have to be something big each week. It could be something as simple as watching a movie that you’ve been wanting to see or having a dinner party with friends. Doing something like this mid-week makes each day feel different and special. It turns dreadful weekdays into fun, meaningful moments that break the patterns of postponing joy until the weekend.
Some other things you can do with friends during the week are a board game night, craft night (you can tailor it to different seasons, like painting pumpkins in fall or making ornaments in winter), at-home trivia night, karaoke night or a movie marathon.
Some things you can do by yourself during the week are have a spa night, try a new workout class, take out your favorite meal for dinner, get ice cream, explore a new hiking trail, or visit the farmers market or a local cafe (all of these can be done with friends too).
We all have those days where waking up and conquering the day feels impossible. It’s important to realize that those days are a part of life and they’re going to happen. But it’s also important to realize that how you recover from those days is what matters most. Try it out this week: instead of waiting around for Friday, take control of Monday, do something fun on Tuesday and make the most of Wednesday and Thursday. Because Friday, Saturday and Sunday aren’t the only days that matter, and implementing these tips into your life will help you enjoy every day, not just the weekend.
