The Ultimate Weekend Routine idea (2023)

Wondering how you can create the most productive weekend routine? You come to the right place!

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Have you ever felt like the weekend passed by so quickly and disappeared in a flash?

After a hectic week, the weekend is something everyone looking forward to relaxing or completing their side project.

But before you can do anything, Bam! come Monday slaps you right on your face, mercilessly.

And the cycles are repeated every week. Sounds familiar? same here, my friend. That is when I realised. The problem is not the weekend is short (It is, but we can’t do anything about it)

The problem is I don’t have any weekend routine. And when I start implementing the weekend routine, life has been more structured and organised.

And I feel more ready when Mondays come

The ideal weekend routine might not be the same for everyone. It might not even be the same for you every week.

But that’s the beauty of the weekend routine.

If on weekdays, we thrive for more consistency and habitual routine but, at weekends, it is more of doing whatever you want but being more intentional about it.

Table of Contents

What Is The Weekend Routine?

A Weekend Routine Is A Routine Sets Up According To Your Preferences Based On Your Wants, Needs, And Responsibilities On That Weekend.

However, it is not so overly scheduled, overly productive with no feeling of fun or fulfilment

The ideal weekend routine is basically completing the necessary tasks but at the same time, incorporating activities that help you relax, recharge and have fun.

In biology, we call it ‘homeostasis’: Finding the right balance to ensure the normal function of the body.

By finding the right balance, a weekend routine can be a powerful tool in improving life or elevating it to the next level.

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Why We Need A Weekend Routine?

The weekend is the only uninterrupted time we have for our family and ourselves.

As I type this, I feel slightly envious of those who are able to escape the 9-5 and have most of the time planned according to their needs.

But the majority of us are still working 9-5, we need to make the most of our weekend and find the right balance between doing things we want to do and what we need to do.

10 Benefits Of Setting A Weekend Routine

Setting up a good weekend routine will help you in:

Completing tasks that can’t be completed during the weekdays. This includes decluttering certain areas in the house and grocery shopping.
Spending quality time with your loved ones
Carve time to work on your hobbies
The calmer weekend as you already know what you wanted to do
More prepared for the upcoming weeks
Have more time to work on the side hustle or the side project you have been working on
Feeling a sense of fulfilment as you have filled your necessary needs
Discover yourself more as you work on yourself and detach your identity from your work (You are more than what you do in the office)
Up-skill yourself by learning new things that intrigued you
Feeling more organized for that weekend and the week ahead

How To Create The Ideal Weekend Routine?

The ideal weekend routine should be the one that is ideal for you. Not to anyone else

Firstly, on Friday night or Saturday morning, sit down and write down your list

The first one is, what is the thing you have to do or must do that weekend?

This includes things like groceries shopping, sending your kid to the soccer match, bring your pet to the vet.

Next, what is fun for you to do?

What is the thing that you want to do for yourself that weekend?

What is the reward you have been looking forward to after completing your tasks on weekdays?

The second one is mainly activities that you want to do.

Want to go hiking? go for it!

Too tired after the long week and want to be a couch potato for the weekend? Yes, you can!

The idea is, to make you feel intentional with whatever activities you wanted to do for your weekend routine.

Writing it down will help you bring more intention and mindfulness to the activities you wanted to do. You can use your normal journal or bullet journal to write down your thoughts

If you want to start bullet journaling, check out this post. And get the best Bullet Journal Notebook to start your journey

And, that’s it!

I know it is too simple.

But the weekend routine is meant to be simple.

It is meant to be simple enough for everyone to have their own ideal weekend routine. No need for an endless to do list

Once you have identified the must-do activities for the weekend, filled in the rest of the weekend activities based on your energy level.

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How identifying our energy level will help with our weekend routine?

Pay attention to our energy level rather than a list of what to do.

Rather than forcing ourselves to do specific routine, just listen to our body and do activities based on the energy state

I know it sounds counter-productive.

First, you said to list down the things you want to do, now you said to focus on energy, make up your mind women!

It’s quite tricky to explain my point on this matter but hear me out.

We want the weekend routine that is ideal for us at that particular time.

Did you get my point?

Yes, we don’t want it to be wasted BUT at the same time, we don’t want to feel forced to do something.

Sometimes no matter how fond you are to do certain things, say your hobby, when you don’t feel like doing it, don’t do it.

It’s okay.

Our state on the weekend will greatly depend on how our week goes.

If it’s exhausting due to work, it is understandable that on the weekend, we’ll have low energy levels and just want to rest

and if on the weekend, you feel energised, and you miss nature and wanted to go hiking or jogging, go for it.

The energy level should match the activities you intended to do that weekend.

By paying attention to my energy level, I noticed that my weekend routine is more fulfilling as I listened to my body while creating the routine.

(But still, bear in mind the must-do list still need to be completed on the weekend)

That’s what I mean by creating a weekend routine that is ideal for us at that particular time.

Weekend routine activities For Low energy level

Usually, when my week is packed with projects and classes I just want to lie down and relax on weekends.

Also because I’m half-human, half-potato.

On the weekend morning, when you still feel energy drained, don’t force yourself to do high-energy level activities.

What you can do instead?

Focus On Yourself And Self-Care Instead

Usually, when we still feel low energy it’s an indirect way of our body telling us that we need more rest.

So, just listen to our bodies.

But instead of sleeping in and waking up a few hours later feeling more sluggish and more tired, here are some activities you can try on the weekend as part of your routine

During this low-energy period, focus on yourself and self-care and allow yourself to relax again.

1. The Good Morning Breakfast. Or Brunch.

During weekdays, we usually don’t have time to have breakfast together as a family.

So, on the weekend, it is essential for us to sit and spend some quality time together.

2. Watch Movies Or Series With Your Family. Or Alone, It Doesn’t Matter

Watching movies is not only a good weekend activity to spend with your family, but it can also help sparks our inner creativity and insight into certain things or issue.

Just recently I watched the documentary Twitter Swindler on how this con man swindles money from lots of women and spend it lavishly on all sort of things.

I mean like whoa.

I never imagine this sort of thing has happened in real life. But it did.

so watching movies or series intentionally will give us more perspective on life than we realize.

And no, I don’t agree that watching movies is a wasted time activity as some people label it. (Maybe if you watch continuously and just consume blindly, then yes, it’s wasting your time. and life)

so if you watch a movie or maybe catch up with your favourite YouTuber, it still counted as a good weekend routine, IF you consume it intentionally.

And what’s a weekend without entertainment eh?

3. Be In Your Thought, Day-Dream And Enjoy The Silence.

Being in our own thought in silence should be done daily.

But on weekends, we are not restricted to a certain time, so we can do it anytime we want

No matter how long it is.

sometimes, being in our own thoughts helps in mental clarity after getting bombarded with various types of consumption on a daily basis

Remember the time we daydream at school and get scolded as we are not paying attention?

I did.

Daydream is deemed bad, and a sign of a lack of attention.

But, everything starts with a dream. if we set actionable habits to dreams that we have, set specific goals, and create an affirmation, someday it might become a reality

My point is, that it always starts with a dream.

so don’t stop dreaming

and of course, it is not complete by expressing it in our journal

4. Journaling

On the weekend, journaling can be in many forms.

Like I mentioned just now, simmer in your thoughts and just write everything in your journal

sometimes, we don’t even realise the issue that had embedded deep inside until we journal

For me, journaling is done routinely on daily basis, but for the weekend routine I usually will brain dump my thought and proceed to focus on 2 main things:

Reflective Journaling-to reflects and reviews what had happened throughout the week
Productive Journaling-to plan the following week ahead

Dream Journaling, Creative Journaling you can do whatever journaling you want, as long as you do it.

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5. Yoga and meditation: Focus on deep breathing

6. Skin care weekend

Do detail skin care that we are usually too busy to do on weekdays.

I am most intrigued with the Korean 10 steps skincare routine. 10 steps, I know.

But I did try (once) and my skin was as soft as the baby skin, not gonna lie.

But I just stick to the basics now as I don’t have much time (and money) to do the 10step skincare.

And yes, skincare or grooming is not only for women. It applies to you gents as well.

7. Ignites Your Inner Creativity Side: Water Colouring, Sketching.

When we focus on colouring, it can help calm the racing mind.

Whatever the thoughts that disturb us, the anxious feeling, let it seep away, one painting at a time.

Weekend Activities For Medium energy level

You got some energy but not so much that you want to dread yourself out. Worry not, here are some activities you can do

Focus on: Decluttering, cleaning, and meal prep

1. Cleaning And Decluttering

Just imagine on Monday you have to deal with the work, and you know there’s a pile of dirty laundry and dishes in the sink.

Eek.

This clutter will lead to more unnecessary stress and the feeling unproductive and anxious the coming day.

Too much too clean? Follow these 4 simple step

I. You can start with areas that need immediate attention. The area that once you clean, you feel so much better with yourself.

For me, it is always the kitchen. Sometimes the fridge is filled with leftover food that already turned bad. Yuck
Or the kitchen sink filled with dirty plates. Once I settled on these 2 tasks, I feel so much lighter.
Yours could be the bedroom or the living room. Whatever the area that is the heart of the home, you clean it first.

I will keep the bedroom last in my cleaning spree as I will have the tendency to sleep back once I cleaned it. Hehe. Guilty as charged.

II. Involve your family member

Delegates the house chores to the family members. You can’t do anything on your own.
Sometimes I feel that the cleaning part is not up to the level of my satisfaction, but I learned to let go of my fussiness to keep my sanity intact.
By delegating the house chore, the cleaning can be done sooner and we feel much lighter.

III. Declutter area by area

If you are familiar with Marie Kondo, the tidy master (she’s so cute), she suggests decluttering according to the category: Clothes, personal items, etc.

But to do that much decluttering, will take more than one weekend.

So I feel it’s a bit much to declutter certain spaces/areas instead.

For example, this week declutter the working space or just one part of the drawer. Start small and simple.

IV. Remove unwanted items.

Is it still functioning?

If yes, donate, if no, can throw and recycle.

I’m not exaggerating, but you will feel a sense of liberation once you have done the declutter. Just keep what matters.

Using an organizer help the process of decluttering and cleaning significantly.

By using an appropriate organizer, we are providing a specific ‘home’ or area to keep the respected item.

So there is a lesser chance of clutter in the future.

2. Meal-prepping

If you like me and hate the decision of what to eat, do meal prepping.

It will save you from decision fatigue and from wasting money on takeaways.

A home-cooked meal is healthier anyway.

Since both my husband and I work 9-5, we don’t have any time and minimal energy to cook once we reach home. So meal prep is essential.

We usually use the weekend morning to clean and wash all the proteins and vegetables for the week.

But rather than cooking all meals, we just do the prepping in terms of cutting and cleaning the ingredients

During weekdays, we’ll just throw the ingredients into the thermomix and let it cook for us. For me, it’s a huge investment.

You can use the slow cooker, multi-function cooker or freeze the cooked meal. Whatever you think can simplify your cooking during weekdays.

High energy level: Outdoor, baby!

As soon as you wake up, you get this adrenaline rush inside your body.

Now, its time for fresh air and some adventure

Spending time outside can ignite your spirit and break the mundane cycle of staying at the home.

There is so much activity you can do and enjoy with your family or even on your own

Being outdoors, especially in nature, can help feels rejuvenate, feeling fresher and better.

I noticed how my mood swings really bad during the lockdown due to the pandemic COVID-19. That’s how I realize how important being outside is for me. In nice sunny weather.

Some of the activities you can try for your adventurous side:

Bicycle/ skateboarding
Mountain biking
Hiking

You can simply go for a walk around the nearby park.

Or simply picnic at the park with your family.

But sometimes, despite your high energy level, the weather is not on your side. Worry not, these activities can still enjoy indoor

Bowling
Ping pong
Rock climbing
Trampoline

My Weekend Routine

For me, I spilt my weekend routine into 3 parts:

The chill morning routine: wake up & review the must-do list and plan my weekend
The family breakfast: is so essential, that it become part of the routine
YOLO list based on my energy level

My Morning Routine on weekends

If I can highlight one thing that separates my morning routine on weekends and weekdays is to wake up naturally

and do not set the alarm.

Most of the time, I will wake up the same time I did on weekdays (because of my circadian rhythm).

But sometimes, I will wake up slightly later and feel much more refreshed. This usually happens when I have lots of work on the weekdays.

As I mentioned, I prefer to really listen to what my body wants on the weekend.

Wake up refreshed and start my weekend right!

Some people have different opinions on this. Certain people gravitated toward setting alarms and waking up early to have a productive weekend routine.

Yes, you can do that if you want to.

It is not right or wrong in setting a morning routine on weekends.

But be careful with toxic productivity.

Don’t get too caught up with being productive all the time.

We are human after all. Give us some time to really relax, reset and rejuvenate on the weekend

and for me, the most essential morning routine on weekends is, to just wake up naturally. No alarm. Just wake up on my own or maybe by the wrath of my cat requesting food

Next is going through my list: The must-do list and the YOLO list depending on my energy

The Rest Of My Weekend Routine

Like I said YOLO

This weekend, I am being a complete potato and just staying at home watching movies and working on my writing on Saturday.

On Sunday, as I feel more energised, we went for groceries shopping and jog around the park.

Oh and another family favourites routine is to go to the cafe and enjoy overpriced coffee with complex names to justify the price

You see, just mix around the activities you want to be part of your weekend routine but not be really strict about it.

My weekend routine is not very jam-packed. I even take a nap in the afternoon if I want to.

But most of the time, I’m working on this blog, learning content creating and upgrading skills like creating arts in procreates.

The burst of random activities makes the weekend more exciting and breaks the mundane weekday cycle.

How about you? What is your weekend routine look like?

Share with us your favourite weekend routine