How relaxing gets in the way of relaxing.

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Think about your average morning before work. If you’re anything like me it’s a frantic race against the clock. Jump out of the shower, jog to grab a shirt steamed in the dryer, brush your teeth while chugging a protein shake; and that’s on a good day. Compare this to your weekend. Sleep in, think about what you want for breakfast, lay in the tub, and all the sudden it’s noon before you’ve even gained consciousness.

We all fear the weekend of checking off the to-do list instead of just relaxing, but often that very fear keeps us from what we really want. Maybe two hours laying in bed, thinking about getting up, isn’t as satisfying as a solid half hour of real meditation. Maybe that half hour shower doesn’t feel as good as the weekend road trip to the vineyard in Missouri you’ve been meaning to do but never seem to have time for.

Let’s start treating personal time like it’s important:

1. Good is the enemy of great – Surfing the web and watching the Sunday morning show is fun, but no one calls the friends to tell them how awesome it is to eat Cheerios on the couch. The more our work sucks, the better everything else seems, even if it’s just marginally interesting. Give up good. Demand great.

2. Execute unimportant daily tasks quickly - Unless your going to sit in the bathtub with scented candles and Ave Maria playing in the background, shower like it’s a race. You’ve only got so much life left. That shower is keeping you from dating super models and driving your Ferrari. Decide in advance what the defacto meal is going to be for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Not only is this going to keep you from eating random crap, you won’t waste valuable hours debating what your in the mood for. If eating is to be your source of pleasure for the day, make it a big deal and plan it, otherwise spend your time doing something truly satisfying.

3. Do something or nothing, but with intensity- Now that we’ve freed up all this time, you won’t feel relaxed unless you use it for something special. Make a list of the things in the back of your mind that you’ve always wanted to do or have been meaning to do and write them down. Pick the best one and do it. If you to busy to write it down or can’t think of anything, have your Indian personal assistant do it for $20. Do it this weekend.  Don’t plan to do it later, just up and go.

Improve the quality of your weekend and it might just push you over the edge to do something about that awful work day.

What have you been hoping to some day do, but never have time for?