💼⛱️ The thing about living weekend to weekend is this: one day you’ll realize you haven’t lived at all. When it comes to work-life balance, most of us haven’t cracked the code yet — and that’s quite fair, it’s a tough code to crack. As a result, we tend to pin all our plans (and hopes) on the weekend, leaving us exhausted with little time to relax, and ultimately feeling unfulfilled. Thus, the cycle repeats itself.

Employees surveyed across the globe rank work-life balance as the second most important workplace necessity, coming just behind pay and on par with personal fulfillment, according to a recent report by management consulting firm Oliver Wyman Forum. But when the clock strikes five, most of us head home, plop onto the nearest couch, and mindlessly scroll through our phones. So, what’s the fix here?

Having fun can — and should be — planned

Leisure crafting: A study from the Harvard Business Review (HBR) found that planning and structuring your downtime — the term is leisure crafting — might be the best thing you can do for yourself. The way HBR sees it, it’s not about what you do after work, it’s about how you plan it.

This means that to have fun, you’ll need discipline… hear us out. The study notes that engaging in passive activities such as doomscrolling or streaming often fails to provide the break we need during the week — or even on weekends. Instead, true recuperation lies in pursuing activities that either help you achieve your individual goals, allow you to foster existing or new social connections, or help you learn something new.

In pursuing these activities, the study finds that employees are better able to recharge and find purpose, thereby preventing burnout. For example, post-9-5 television nights could turn into watch nights with friends — combining personal interests with social interaction.

How do you go about doing this? Ironically, the same way you would approach a work project: identifying problems, specifying goals, and demonstrating accountability. The real fix here is shifting what you do to how you do it by adopting a personal growth-oriented mindset.

Mentally logging off

Jot down everything that makes you happy, and set SMART goals — specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. Love reading? Set a time and specific page count you’ll want to reach before the week’s end. Enjoy dining out? Reach out to an old friend and set a time to catch up over pasta. Want to get better at cooking? Make it a point to try a new recipe once a week.

… But don’t overdo it. It’s equally important to listen to your body and adjust accordingly. Unlike work projects, you’re the one setting the rules here — and that includes knowing when to break them. By structuring your leisure time or “fun,” you’re allowing yourself to invest in your own personal well-being, but if that fun begins to feel like a chore, you might want to take a few steps back, rethink, and readjust.

Now that we’ve set up a preliminary framework, here are a few things you can do in the meantime to switch from professional to personal — and stay there until it’s time to hit the ground running again.

#1- A digital downgrade: Constantly being online has been linked to mental health problems, including sleep disruption, anxiety, and depression. By setting time limits on certain tech gadgets or online platforms, you’re allowing your mind to rest by decreasing exposure to a smorgasbord of stimuli. There are plenty of ways to approach a digital detox, and if you’re looking to do so, check out our guide here.

#2- Don’t be stingy with your PTO: For many, paid time off (PTO) is often reserved for biannual extended vacations or last-minute emergencies, but why not break from the mold every now and then and take a Tuesday off? By planning a mini weekend-like day, you’ll be able to rest and recuperate during the week, get a head start on plans previously slated for the weekend, and feel less pressure to do everything, everywhere, all at once, come Thursday night.

#3- Have something to look forward to during the week. This can be a dinner, a concert, a sports class, or anything that needs to be planned in advance. In doing so, you’ll be giving yourself something to look forward to beyond Fridays and Saturdays, effectively divvying up your week and having that event function as a form of mental reset.

It’s not one-size-fits-all

Work-life balance doesn’t look the same for everyone. For some, it could be going off the grid the second the clock strikes five; for others, the secret could lie in simultaneously balancing work and personal lives, knowing when to prioritize each. For Money Fellows’ Ahmed Wadi, it’s all about knowing when — and how — to disconnect. Erada Microfinance’s Amr Aboelazm argues that true work-life balance can be achieved by dedicating time to family and friends. For ReQaf’s Aly Khattab, it’s all about setting clear-cut boundaries.

In short: There’s no textbook rule when it comes to how you should enjoy life outside the confines of the weekend, only that you should.