Slow DaysA 4-minute read
Weekends are supposed to restore you, but they often become a second working week: errands, catch-up chores, late nights and a Sunday evening dread. A weekend reset is a light structure that keeps the restful parts and makes the next week easier. It has four parts: sleep, movement outdoors, a tidy home, and a short plan.
1. Sleep in, but only a little
Long weekend lie-ins feel like recovery, but the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute advises against big swings. It recommends keeping the same sleep schedule on weeknights and weekends, limiting the difference to no more than about an hour, because staying up late and sleeping in late on weekends can disrupt your body clock. If the week left you short of sleep, an earlier bedtime on Friday and Saturday fits the advice better than a noon wake-up.
Naps are allowed. The NHLBI says napping may boost alertness and performance, but adults should nap for no more than 20 minutes, and if you have trouble falling asleep at night, limit naps or take them earlier in the afternoon.
Why bother protecting weekend sleep? The NHLBI says sleep deficiency can interfere with work, school, driving and social functioning, and calls it a common myth that people can learn to get by on little sleep with no negative effects. Keeping weekend bedtimes and wake-up times close to the weekday ones is the NHLBI’s way to avoid starting each week with a sleep debt and a shifted body clock.
2. Get outside and move
The EPA estimates that Americans spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors. The weekend is the easiest time to change that ratio. The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults, such as brisk walking, and says it can be spread across the week. A long walk on Saturday and a bike ride on Sunday can cover a good part of it. Ideas for making walks calmer are in Mindful Walking: How to Turn an Ordinary Walk Into a Pause, and for time in green places, Spending Time in Nature: Getting Outdoors When Most of Life Happens Inside.
Tip: Add a strength session. The CDC recommends muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week, working the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms. Yard work or carrying groceries can be part of it, but a short planned session makes sure it happens.
3. Reset the house, and air it out
A tidy kitchen and a clear table on Sunday evening make Monday morning easier. While you clean, open the windows if the weather allows. The EPA notes that indoor concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor levels, that cleaning supplies, paints and other household products release chemicals into indoor air, and that the air exchange rate with the outdoors is an important factor in indoor pollutant levels.
- Kitchen: clear counters, run the dishwasher, wipe surfaces.
- Laundry: wash, dry and put away in one sitting rather than leaving it in piles all week.
- Entry: one basket for keys, wallet and phone.
- Bedroom: fresh sheets, curtains that block light, nothing on the bed but bedding.
4. Make time for people and pastimes
The National Institute on Aging notes that being lonely or socially isolated is not good for your overall health, and that engaging in social and productive activities you enjoy, such as an art class, a hiking club or volunteering, may help maintain well-being. Its advice applies at any age: start by adding one or two activities and see how you feel, and remember that activities you enjoy should be fun, not stressful. More in Making Time for Hobbies: Finding Room for What You Enjoy.
5. A 20-minute Sunday plan
Sunday evening is a good time for a short look ahead, done on paper and then put away.
| Step | Question |
|---|---|
| Calendar | What is fixed this week, and where are the gaps? |
| Priorities | What three things matter most? |
| Movement | When will the walks happen? |
| Evenings | Which nights are protected from late work and screens? |
| Bedtime | What time do I need to be in bed to get 7 hours? |
The point of the plan is to do fewer things on purpose. Psychologists who study multitasking, summarized by the American Psychological Association, find that switching repeatedly between tasks costs time and adds errors; a plan with three priorities is one way to cut down on switching on Monday. See Single-Tasking Instead of Multitasking: What the Research on Switching Costs Shows.
What to leave out
- Work email, unless your job truly requires it. Set a time to check it once.
- A to-do list longer than the weekend.
- Late nights on both Friday and Saturday, which push your body clock away from Monday’s alarm.
For the daily version, see A Simpler Evening Routine: Winding Down the Way Sleep Experts Suggest and Slow Mornings: How to Start the Day Without Rushing.