Why You Must Have Fun on Weekends (i.e. Stop Working!)

Should you work this weekend? Five easy, common, simple, sweet points to guide you to the answer:

1. "I've worked the last six days. Blah. Should I stop?"

   You might know the answer already, but just in case: If you've been working the last six days, seek some rest. Recovery helps you re-build your energy reserves. Without recovery, you're running a constant marathon that leads to burnouts--that leads to insanity--that leads to being like Britney Spears. Take it from Jim Loehr, who trains corporate executives to use the mindset of a world-class athlete:

   All great athletes understand the importance of "work-rest" ratios - the systematic balancing of energy expenditure with energy recovery. Unfortunately in business people are often measured by how relentlessly they push themselves. Taking time to rest and recover is viewed as a sign of weakness. In fact, full engagement depends on periodic disengagement. It is only when we fully shut down our energy systems that real healing, regeneration and renewal can occur. Without strategic disengagement, we eventually become energy bankrupt. This may show up as physical fatigue, negative emotions, poor focus and even lack of commitment. Overuse it, in short, and you lose it.

   Michael Jordan never played basketball 12 months of the year. You probably won't have the same access to his recovery time, but you can build the same mindset as the world's greatest athlete (That's what we Americans call him, anyway): sprint, recover, sprint, recover, sprint, recover, etc. Simple, easy, sweet, and Angelina-Jolie-sexy, no?

2. "I spend all my time at my desk. I have no balance. I haven't seen my kids in 3 months."

   Balance rocks. You get to work, AND see your kids. Impossible, you say? Not really. It's actually quite simple: You know the "sprint, recover" process we described above? Well, during that recovery process, guess what: you can see your kids. Or, watch a movie. Or, hang out with your buddies. Or, read a novel. Recovering from your work helps you build energy reserves. When you recover, you're building more energy reserves, and storing it to use when you do finally work. Isn't life grand? Yeah, we think so too.

3. Right now, at this moment: do you, absolutely-without-a-freakin doubt, enjoy what you do?

   Life has a weird way of helping us understand what it's really about. If you enjoy your work, you're more productive. If you enjoy working with your clients, your clients love you. When you enjoy being around your friends, they buy you drinks. When you enjoy a sport, you excel at it. When you enjoy an exercise, you do more of it. When you enjoy going on dates, you're more charismatic. If you're not having fun, something's wrong.

4. But what if I love working this weekend?

   If you love it, then by all means, work this weekend! But, human nature says we're not robots (duh, you might be saying). Human nature says if we do something for too long, we get bored and want to do something else. Human nature yearns for breaks. If you've been working for a long time, take a break. If, on the other hand, you want to work, then we encourage you to do so.

5. But how do I know what to do?

   When in doubt, listen to what your mind/body/soul/[enter something-cheesy-here] wants you to do.

Life should be fun. Make it that way. p.s. Random tidbit: World Cup soccer rules. p.p.s. Word.

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