Offline Escapes: Appreciating The Weekend…
In a new age of digitalised living, many have forgotten what its like to slow down and enjoy the little things in life. I look into the idea of appreciating the weekends and embracing a slower pace of life.
In this new generation of digitalised living it is very easy to be swept up in hectic day-to-day lives. The fast paced lifestyles of people around the world seem to have slowly encroached on our downtime, seemingly without knowing. How many of us have still been replying to work emails long after finishing hours, trying to get ahead of ourselves ready for the week ahead? Yes? Well give us a good reason why that can’t wait until Monday!
The weekends provide us with a much-needed break from the monotony of our weekly routines. As people grow older, they realise that time is more valuable than money, and finding more time to do absolutely nothing, is exactly what we all need. We learn a lot from doing nothing, and the art of doing so really seems to be dying out in the world we live in today. Far different from laziness, we must allow ourselves proper idleness to allow our brains to function. We are more technologically dependant than any previous generation and have slowly let it take control of our lives! What we must remember is that before we learn, we watch, before we do, we dream and before we play, we imagine. The weekends should be our time to recover and recuperate from long hours of work, and to really make the most of living.
How do you spend your weekends? As much as this isn’t an article stating to just ‘live for the weekends’, we should value time away from work as much as possible, re-learn the art of doing nothing and live more adventurously. Once you have learnt how to do this on the weekends, you can begin to pull elements of this into your working week to lift your mood and increase your productivity! We should be trying to strike the perfect balance between working and our well-earnt days off. Those days should be spent enjoying the simple pleasures of life, unplug the phones and computers and discover a slower pace of life.
Appreciating the weekends has perhaps never been more important. Throughout the last year of lockdowns, many have rediscovered their love for the outside, or have gained new hobbies during the time they have spent being stuck at home. If there’s one thing that we should take from this global pandemic, it is the fact it has taught many of us what it is like to find pleasure in the much simpler joys of life. Whether you have picked up a camera for the first time, developed a love for baking, perfected your coffee art skills or rediscovered the delight of picking up a book, these are all things that the modern generation had started to disregard from our hectic lives. As life slowly begins to resemble some normality, it is so important that we don’t forget what we have learnt this year, take things slowly and remember to enjoy the little things too.
So what might the perfect weekend look like you ask? Well it can take on a million different shapes depending on what interests you. You might head to your local farmers market and amble through the stalls of fresh, local and organic produce, or head to the beach for a brisk stroll by the sea. Whether it be packing up the car for a picnic or spending time out in the sunshine gardening, make sure that you switch off your distractions and live for the moment!
I am utterly convinced that we are more productive without the distractions of technology. Now you can relate this to when you are trying to get work done and constantly keep stopping every five minutes to check your phone for message and emails, or you can relate it to your everyday life as a whole. Instead of waking up and going straight on your phone, pick up a book and let your mind wander for half an hour. Use those weekend mornings well. The rest of your week may be filled with early alarms, rushing for the tube and grabbing quick coffees. Well Saturday’s and Sunday’s are for catching the sunrise, putting on your favourite music and dancing around the kitchen whilst making pancakes for breakfast.
Time spent idle makes for a much healthier state of mind, we want less and appreciate more. So when Saturday next comes around, fill your vases with fresh flowers, light candles, leave notes for loved ones and stop to smell freshly ground coffee. Observe your daily surroundings and learn that the simpler things bring us the most joy.
Ellie x