My whole weekend goes in playing computer games and watching movies. However, I would like to plan my weekend for better productivity so that I can for example work on hobby projects and improve their skills. However, I don't have a good idea of how I should plan my weekend. It feels like there is no incentive to it...
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Don't do that my friend! What we can do for preventing your games & movie times in the weekend? It's 100% up to you. It doesn't matter if you are a programmer or not. Let me say, do you have a to do list? Or is your to do list like this?
Of course you should play games & watching movies if you like. Do it sometimes, not every weekend. But these are not as important as improving yourself. Read articles about your jobs, listen professional people's podcasts, make some research about your business. And have fun with them. You are a programmer and you try to plan your weekend. This is a sample plan:
Because learning never stops. |
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Honestly I find the following works for me. I got more energy by learning about my body and understanding that it's a machine like the ones I program. I learned about exercise and nutrition and frankly I have more time for every thing and more importantly, everyone now. Having a healthier mind also improved my relationships with family esp. I just have more time to do things now as I tend to be active. I play computer games not to escape from stress any more. Do you think you do that (movies and games)? So at the weekend I go on websites like this, run, play with the kids, program, sometimes work, watch movies, play sports whatever. I have time for all of them. |
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When I'm not spending time with others, I have the most productive weekends when I get an idea in my mind around Wednesday of something I want to focus on for Saturday. For example, if I have a few days ahead of time thinking that "Saturday I will reorganize my file cabinet" or "Saturday I will go to the library and study macroeconomics", then when Saturday actually arrives, I jump in and start doing it as easily as I jump in and go to work Monday-Friday. If I haven't had any such idea before Saturday morning, it's much easier to succumb to temptations like video games and (cough) spending my whole day on stackexchange. |
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Don't plan anything. I've removed the words "TODO LIST" from my vocabulary. As an ex-wow player (cough) addict (cough), I admit to wasting MANY weekends since the game was in beta back in 2004. I've replaced my "TODO" list with a "Quest" list. If I am interested in something that I find during the week but can't get to it, I just send myself an email with a header [Quest] and it gets filtered accordingly. My current quest list. Does this mean I will do every "quest" on the list? Nope. I'll pick what interest me the most first and move on from there. Why does it work for me? I check my email everyday from my computer or phone...almost as an addiction. |
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It is not necessary to plan out every minute of your weekend. It is highly impractical as things will usually come up that impede on your plan. Another approach is to think of what goals you want to accomplish this weekend. Create a list of things you expect yourself to do and hold yourself accountable for doing them. Do's:
Don'ts:
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I agree with Soner Gönül's answer. But for some(like me) a planned approach usually does not work. Life happens and i am forced to move away from the plan. At the end of the day I feel more awful for not sticking to my plan than if I didn't have a plan at all. Instead I have a set of 5-6 must do items(including chores, self improvement, goals related tasks) for both days of the weekend. I do them right after breakfast. After I finish them(usually around afternoon...sometimes evening), I am free to spend the rest of my day however I want. Guilt free gaming! |
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You might just be working too hard during the week. Now that I'm older, I've got so much extra work to do during the week that I end up just completely wiped out by the weekend. I just don't have anything left to put into the hobbies/projects that I really want to. Hobbies, despite being fun, don't contribute towards the rest from work that we all need! |
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You can schedule your tasks that you want to accomplish during weekend and organize it depends on priority level. You can also set an estimated amount of time when working on each task that will limit wasted time. Your key in order to follow schedule and finish tasks on time is with discipline. At the end of the day you will feel the fulfillment on yourself that you get more things done throughout the day with less wasted time. |
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I find a key for my productivity on the weekend is to keep my sleep and exercise schedule consistent between the weekdays and the weekend. If you need to, I've found it's not terrible to stretch your bed time or awake time by a hour, but more than that, you will find it hard to get up and going at the start of the work week. After a few weeks/months of that, you will find yourself waking up ready to go usually before your alarm even goes off. With that energy plus exercise, I find it much easier to convince myself to be productive rather than slacking off all weekend. |
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