“You only get one day. Pick one. You don’t get a two-day weekend in your first couple of years”.
This was the sage, but stark advice given to me by a trusted vice principal when I was in the second half of my PGCE.
Not having a weekend had already been my reality, but I just assumed it was because I was disorganised or slow. I didn’t realise that it was “normal” that I was not able to fit in all my obligations as well as leisure time in a weekend.
You have to accept that your social life and hobbies will have to take a deep cut for a couple of years. Radical acceptance is required from you that will not be able to do everything you did before. You will have to be very clear and specific about what you can and cannot include in your spare time.
Remember that you’re giving yourself the best chance at being a fantastic teacher – your career is worth the short-term sacrifice.
Plan the weekend
The weekend starts on Friday night. I like to decompress with colleagues on Friday nights. I’ve been lucky enough to work in schools in which the teaching staff are very sociable. I like to go out and share roses, thorns and buds and “let go” of the week that has just been.
This will not necessarily also be right for you. Some teachers want to get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible from all things school on a Friday night. They do not want to spend their time talking shop after a grueling week at work.
It can be tempting to get into your pyjamas and just kick back with a nice drink and some mindless television. You have earned a break and deserve to relax. If, however, this attitude spills into Saturday and Sunday you might be inadvertently building yourself up for a very stressful week ahead.
A woman relaxing at home on Freepik.com
TGIF night – first night of the weekend
The secret is to be intentional. I usually do my laundry on Friday night. I’ll get home and put on a wash load. This is then done and ready on Saturday morning so all I need to do is take it out to dry, ready to iron on Sunday.
You might find that washing up, hoovering or cleaning the bathroom are great decompression tasks that you can complete as you wind down for bed. You will never regret doing these tasks the next morning when you wake up to a clean house.
Weekends are for lie-ins
I’m sorry but no, they are not. It’s better for your overall sleep hygiene if you if you wake up at the same time at the weekend as you do on Monday to Friday.
Use that time as your precious protected time. Maybe take a walk in nature, go to the gym, get started on housework, go food shopping, do food prep for the following week or journal.
Use that time to actively support your mental or physical wellbeing. Cleaning and organising your living space serves both of those very well.
Schedule the weekend
I cheat and spread my leisure time across both Saturday and Sunday. This is what a typical weekend looks like for me.
Friday night – laundry
Saturday
5am – 7am – laundry, washing up, hoover flat
7am – 12pm – breakfast, clean kitchen, lesson planning
12pm – 5pm – clean bathroom, lesson planning
5pm – leisure time
Sunday
5am – 7am – iron work clothes, sort work food and bag
7am – 12pm – change bedding, bedding laundry, lesson planning
12pm – leisure time
I make sure that I have the essentials covered so that I can sanely navigate the following week with as much order and as little chaos as possible.
I use my breaks from planning to get quick tasks done like cleaning the bathroom or changing my bedding. All of these are necessary as well as productive so if I’m stuck on a piece of work or can’t face a new task, I’m not “wasting time” by cleaning the cooker instead.
Schedule the weekend fun
To make sure that I don’t become a house bound at the weekend I actively make plans for my weekend evenings.
It might be tempting to just wait for the weekend and play it by ear. I guarantee though, that if you don’t have to get ready and go somewhere to meet someone, you won’t. It’s important that you know during the day that you have a time limit on how long you have to get everything done. This will give you the impetus to get it done quickly so you can get cracking with your lovely fun evening.
I deliberately schedule working time on Sunday too. That’s because if I don’t get everything done on Saturday I still have time planned in to work on Sunday. This makes it easier for me to down tools on Saturday and allow myself my leisure time.
What if I schedule my weekend wrong?
There is no right way or wrong way to weekend, only your way. It may take some time to figure out what type of schedule works best for you.
Your goal should be to eliminate the “Sunday Scaries”. You never want to be asking yourself “How it is Sunday night already?” . That growing panic as you realise there isn’t enough time now to get everything you wanted to do done now is not an experience you need to have.
Remember that it won’t be like this forever. By being intentional with your time you are being kind to your present and future self. Making sure that you are ready for the week ahead is the best way to start the week. You will get a feeling of calm and order as you tick all of the tasks off your list. This will be exuded into your daily interactions with staff and students alike in the week ahead.
Once you have established a routine that suits how you weekend, you will then have the freedom to be more flexible going forward.
