Weekend Worries?

I remember a few months ago a friend of mine, when asked how her weekend was, replied in distress that it was absolutely horrible and she’d have to mark it in her calendar as a ‘weekend down the drain’ because she got absolutely no studying done at all. Having done exactly the same thing I was left confused. Frankly, I felt no guilt whatsoever about not being productive over the weekend. However, seeing her freak out about wasting time, somehow, made me feel very guilty about not feeling guilty. Ever since then I have felt obliged to make use of every minute of my weekend to study or do something productive. However, I think this kind of mentality is actually quite detrimental. There is nothing wrong with taking things slow on your days off.

This weekend was one my friend would describe as “one down the drain”. I, however, think it was great as I am firm believer in the power of doing nothing for a change—to take things as they come, slow down, and relax. I started my weekend by joining a close friend in celebrating her birthday at the “Winterfestival” at Ontario Place. The night took an interesting turn when we arrived at Ontario Place, after a long bus ride plus a good 20 minutes of walking in the cold, only to realize that there was no such “Winterfestival” being held. Instead, there was merely one questionable truck selling Beaver Tails (which we thoroughly enjoyed). Ironically, we ended up coming home and having dinner at a restaurant across the street from us. Despite, the wasted 2 hours of commuting to and from Ontario Place, we had a great time. The rest of the weekend I spent volunteering at a tutoring club where I got to meet my very enthusiastic grade 7 student.  I had a great time spending the afternoon with her going over her homework and laughing with her as she brought me up to date on all the happenings of middle school! The rest of the weekend was spent lounging, catching up with friends, catching up with “This is Us” and “Jane the Virgin” (highly recommend), and watching the Grammy’s. Although, I did approximately two hours of studying this weekend I definitely don’t consider it a “wasted weekend”. Instead, I took my time off to relax and renew. Although I do consider my academic life to be a priority and know the importance of spending time to study, I don’t think every single minute of every day needs to be spent that way. I have come to understand the importance of taking a break and re-charging because this is the best way to avoid burning out later in the semester. I strongly believe that everyone should take some time to take care of themselves as balance is key!   Comment below on how you like to spend your weekends and how you create balance in your life! Until next time!