Did your weekend contain any Slower Pace activities? Or was it just like your week, except maybe minus job responsibilities? And with today’s face paced world and the noose of technology and communications, your weekend might be just a mirage because there are still on call phones, coverage schedules, and time/location shift work arrangements.
No matter what your weekend is — Saturday/Sunday or a non-traditional weekday cluster — it is important that you take time to recharge. While vacations are the big times to recharge and renew yourself, every weekend should be a time for a “mini-vacation” — time you can take for yourself to replenish the energy you spent over the last week. I encourage you to view weekends with that mindset, and not just as an opportunity to work harder for another boss or project.
I struggle with that same mindset so I have been trying to be more deliberate with my weekend activities. I have a couple of “YES” criteria when someone suggests an activity for the weekend. If the activity includes one of the components below, it has a much higher “YES” factor and will more likely make it onto my calendar.
Is the activity:
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Outside?
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Electronics free?
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Family inclusive?
If any of those are “YES”, there is a likelihood I will be doing it.
Below is a snapshot from this weekend’s activity — canoeing. It met 2 1/2 components on that list — yes, I brought along my phone (for emergency purposes) and yes, I did pull it out to snap some pictures like the one below. But the majority of the time it HAD to be in the waterproof storage on the canoe so that worked out nicely.
If you cannot tell, that object in the sky in the middle of the picture is a hot air balloon that was landing in the field beside us. Five went by us and one was close enough for us to talk to them.
Canoes and hot air balloons — now THAT is A Slower Pace.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
