By Marjelle Sy
Weekend is what makes most of us work hard during the week. It’s like the finish line students and employees are eager to reach after an arduous weekday run.
When Friday finally comes and ends, you know the next 48 hours will be dedicated to yourself and/or to your loved ones. You shift from working mode to resting mode and turn off your alarm. You indulge in your favorite hobbies, binge watch your favorite K-drama at the moment, browse through your social media accounts, or party with friends—because you know you totally deserve it. *pats self on the back*
But after spending your off-days on just about anything you wanted to do, you still feel exhausted and unfulfilled. And, in most days, you dread Monday as if it’s the most unpleasant thing that could happen.
Here’s the thing: if you don’t feel even just a little bit restored for another week of work or school, then you must be spending your weekend wrong.
According to studies by Positive psychologists, the feeling of fulfillment may come from the experience of leisure. Happiness is the key to attain the best weekend goal.
Sociologist Robert Stebbins of the University of Calgary divided leisure into two categories: casual and serious.
Casual leisure or easygoing relaxation escapades are brief and instantly satisfying. They are activities like drinking, binge-watching, and fast food night-ins. All these pastimes provide hedonic pleasure as they cause the brain to release dopamine—the hormone that makes you feel comfort almost instantly.
For instance, Carmela Valencia, 20, spends her weekend on movie marathons, TV series binge watching, and massage. While Janine Ibarrola enjoys having quiet moments with a good book to help her clear her mind and restart it for another stressful workload.
Like Ibarrola, self-proclaimed workaholic, 20-year-old Keyle Sta. Agata does what she is not given the chance to do during work days: sleep. She restores her energy by sleeping through the morning, and spends the rest of the day with her family.
Serious leisure, however, provides a self-healing fulfillment, mostly for the “soul searching” individuals. They make a person feel complete or give a sense of “self-actualization” which, Humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow describes as “the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming.”
If you want to spend your weekend right, experts suggest opting for “eudaimonic” happiness, a kind of happiness that gives you a sense of humanity and comfort, which in turn makes you grow as a person. You can get this from serious leisure activities that improve your skills or further your project or personal advocacy.
A good weekend does not always rely on if you had a good week before that, or if you had planned a perfect weekend ahead for months. But it is on how you spend your precious free time.
For culinary student Kevin Villanueva, weekend is for discovering new cuisines to maximize his knowledge on food.
“I cook almost every day during the week, so it’s a good change [of pace] that I get to eat different dishes on weekends that will inspire me to create my own versions of it,” shares Villanueva.
But in some cases, it all depends on whatever activity makes you feel re-energized. Mary Anne Sy, 20, spends her days off working out and going on family road trips because she believes these activities make her feel ready for the next week.