One working woman wonders how she can get her priorities done on the weekend with family and friends clamoring for her attention.

First, I want her to know how blessed she is with so many people in her life that love her.

But, it’s hard to get things done when you work and have this lovely group of people in your life.

Get things done during the week

One suggestion would be to get one extra thing done a day during the week. If everything waits until the weekend, it’s not going to get done. Most people I work with say they have no energy after work to do anything. That is usually because they are not giving themselves any breaks to de-stress and work out their emotions during the day so by the time they get home they are exhausted.

Many of our jobs are not physical, so it is not normally physical exhaustion but mental and emotional exhaustion. Sitting on the couch actually makes that worse. Getting yourself up to exercise or do physical chores like laundry can move that stress out of your body.

Doing one thing each evening that you usually save for the weekend, gives the weekend more free time. Monday can be mopping. Tuesday dusting. Wednesday vacuuming. Thursday errands. Friday paperwork and bills. Play around with a schedule and see what works for you.

Check with family and friends early

Often with kids and grandkids, they will just pop over or call at the last minute. Or you run into a friend at the grocery store and you make spontaneous plan. Those can be fun. But to be able to plan more for the weekend, you can ask your family or friends earlier in the week to see what plans they have. Say something like, "I may not be available at all times this weekend and I was wondering if or when you plan on visiting."

Make plans with friends for certain times on the weekend so you can plan out when to do your priorities. Or make plans with friends that include your priorities. You can exercise together, get together for brunch after church, run errands together, declutter (one weekend your house, the next hers), do something creative like scrapbooking or photography.

Watch sleeping in

I find when I sleep in on the weekend, I am more groggy. Plus I miss the morning which is when I am most productive. I have an 8am Zumba class on Saturday mornings so I make sure I am up. And church Sunday mornings where I sing in the choir so I can’t slack off. I probably wouldn’t get up early if I hadn’t built in this incentives.

If you are up early you can get things done before many people are even out of bed. Errands especially take less time.

Make a list

Weekends are usually less mapped out than the week. Which can be fine, unless you are frustrated that you haven’t done what you wanted at the end of the weekend.

Friday evening make a list of your priorities in categories. Then star the three or so that you want to get done most. Do those as early in the day and weekend as possible.  Make a note of what has to be done, rather than what would be nice to get done. Then make sure you let yourself feel satisfied and good even if only those three get done. Often it’s not you don’t get much done, it’s the expectation that you should get an impossible amount done. 

If friends or family visit, see if you can include them. Or do some work while they are there. Get the grandkids involved. I know I did quite a bit of raking and gardening at my grandparents.

If possible, get work and chores done on one day so the other day you can spend with social activities, spiritual replenishment and fun.

Plan for fun

Part of the fun, is anticipating. So instead of the same old get-togethers, plan a fun outing to the beach. Or plan a picnic. Or a play out with your husband. What lights you up and gives you energy? Plan at least one of those for the weekend. Then look forward to it during the work week.

But, don’t plan every moment. Have in your mind the top 3 from your list, your fun idea and maybe one or two social events. Then you can flow with what is happening the rest of the time.

Have downtime, but use that time for activities that really renew you. A walk in the woods or a good book is usually more renewing than watching TV or surfing the net. Using less technology on the weekends can give us respite from being always connected.

How about you, readers? Do you have any tips of getting things done on the weekends and still having fun?