It’s funny how two little days — Saturday and Sunday — somehow became the battleground for our sanity.
Somewhere along the line, weekends stopped being sacred. They turned into just extra work hours for many of us: a little breathing space to catch up on deadlines, finish side projects, run endless errands, or worse, stay reachable for bosses who think a pay cheque gives them 24/7 access to our lives, but it doesn’t have to be that way. It shouldn’t be that way.
There’s something deeply powerful about drawing a firm, quiet boundary and saying, “These two days are mine. Full stop.” And I think it’s time we all started doing it, not out of rebellion, but out of self–preservation.
We live in a world that idolises productivity. If you’re not grinding, you’re slacking. If you’re not busy, you are not serious. If you’re not available, you’re seen as uncommitted. It’s exhausting, and honestly, it’s unnatural.
Humans were never meant to be “on” all the time. We’re not machines. Even machines need maintenance breaks. Yet here we are, wearing burnout like a badge of honour, measuring our worth by how much we can squeeze into a week. The truth is, you don’t earn your right to rest.
You already deserve it. Simply because you’re human.
That’s why weekends are gold, and they deserve to be treated as such.
I’m not talking about spending Saturdays running frantic errands from morning till night or catching up on hundreds of emails with one guilty eye on the clock.
I’m talking about reclaiming your weekends: unapologetically carving out space for yourself to pause, breathe, nourish your soul, and reconnect with your life outside of work.
Imagine waking up on a Saturday without an alarm, letting the sunlight creep in slowly as you stretch without panic.
Imagine closing your laptop on Friday evening and not opening it again until Monday morning, guilt-free.
Imagine a Sunday where the most important decision you make is whether to physically be in church or attend virtually.
Imagine spending time with friends, family, or just yourself without secretly thinking about Monday’s to-do list looming in the back of your mind.
It sounds simple, but it’s revolutionary, especially in a world that always wants a piece of you.
Of course, reclaiming your weekends doesn’t always have to mean booking a spa trip or checking into an expensive resort (although, if you can, why not?).
Sometimes, the most powerful wellness retreats happen right at home, in your own little world, with you as the honoured guest. While the idea sounds dreamy, the truth is, we often need a little help and a few sacred rituals to make it stick.
So how do you actually turn those precious weekends into soul-nourishing wellness retreats?
Here’s how you can start, right where you are:
1. Create Your Weekend Rituals
The same way we have Monday morning routines, why not craft intentional Saturday or Sunday rituals?
Maybe it’s brewing your favourite tea slowly, doing gentle stretches, or journaling before you pick up your phone.
Small, intentional rituals tell your brain, “It’s me-time now.” They anchor you in the present and help you enter your weekend from a place of calm, not chaos.
Schedule Joy the Same Way You Schedule Work
Joy should not be an afterthought squeezed in if there’s time left over. Put it on your calendar, make it bold and loud.
Whether it’s brunch with friends, a long solo walk, or binge-watching your comfort series (one of my fave things to do😉), block it out like a meeting with your soul.
Make joy non-negotiable because when you honour your joy, you refill your cup for the week ahead.
Declutter Your Mind, Not Just Your Space
We hear a lot about decluttering physical spaces, but what about the mental clutter?
Weekends are the perfect time to do a brain dump. Write down everything swirling in your head—tasks, worries, ideas.
Get them on paper and out of your mind. This simple act helps you create space for presence and peace.
Unplug—Even If Just for a Few Hours
One of the biggest gifts you can give yourself is the power to say, “Not today.”
Not today, emails.
Not today, Slack notifications. Let the Slack notifications pile up (trust me, they will still be there on Monday).
Not today, guilt about not doing more.
Not today, creeping anxiety that says you should be working harder. When you disconnect from the noise, you reconnect to yourself.
Even two hours of phone-free, work-free quiet can feel like a luxurious mental detox.
Move Your Body with Kindness, Not Punishment
Forget the ‘no pain, no gain’ hustle culture approach to fitness. Weekend movement should feel like a celebration, not a chore.
Take a walk, dance in your living room, and stretch like a cat in the sun.
Move because it feels good, not because you’re punishing yourself for how much you sat during the week.
When you fiercely protect your weekends, you’re not just protecting your free time. You’re protecting your mind, your body, and your spirit.
You’re choosing to honour the parts of yourself that exist beyond your job title. You’re remembering that you are a whole person, not a human task list.
Of course, setting this kind of boundary isn’t always easy, especially when you work in industries where being “always available” is considered noble or when you have a manager who thinks sending you tasks at 7 p.m. on a Sunday is just part of the hustle.
(and don’t even get me started on those bosses who wrap it up in fake compliments like, “I knew I could count on you!” while quietly trampling all over your personal life.)
It takes courage to draw the line. It takes even more courage to stick to it when people push back, but trust me, it’s worth it.
Because the more you allow work to creep into your weekends, the more you teach people that it’s okay to treat your time like it’s not yours.
And honestly? You deserve better.
Your weekends should be your sanctuary.
Make it your me-time — your sacred, no-excuses, no-apologies space where you get to call the shots.
Maybe that means a lazy day in your pyjamas.
Maybe it means going to the farmers market, walking barefoot on the grass, spending hours with a book that makes you forget the world exists.
Maybe it’s painting, journaling, catching up with friends, binge-watching a feel-good series, or doing absolutely nothing productive at all.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s turning your phone off for a few hours and letting the world figure itself out without you.
(Shockingly, it usually does.)
We were not put on this Earth to just work, pay bills, and die. We’re allowed to live.
Reclaiming your weekends is also about protecting your health, physical and mental heath.
I still remember a passage from one of the English textbooks I read back in secondary school. Its title was simple but profound: “Nobody is Indispensable.”
That sentence stuck with me through the years, quietly echoing at the back of my mind during different seasons of life.
At one point, I worked at a job so hectic and demanding that I eventually developed a health challenge purely from stress. It was tough, but those four words, “nobody is indispensable,” gave me the courage to walk away. They reminded me that no matter how hard-working or committed you are, no matter how much you give, the truth is — life and work will move on without you.
If someone in a job role were to pass on suddenly, the harsh reality is that their desk would be cleared the same day.
The role would be filled before the week runs out.
The emails would keep coming.
The meetings would go on.
The company would continue like nothing happened.
So why wouldn’t you choose to rest now?
Why wouldn’t you pause to care for your mind, your body, your life?
You owe it to yourself to take breaks, set boundaries, and put your health first — without apology, without guilt.
Because at the end of the day, your well-being is yours alone to protect.
Chronic stress isn’t a badge of honour. It’s a slow erosion of your body and mind.
When you don’t rest, your body doesn’t heal properly.
When you don’t pause, your creativity dries up.
When you don’t give yourself space, your anxiety builds like a pot boiling over.
Rest isn’t a reward for working hard. It’s a basic requirement to keep functioning and thriving.
Give yourself the permission you don’t think you’ve earned yet.
You don’t have to “deserve” rest after crossing a million things off your to-do list. You’re already worthy of it.
It’s time to stop living on autopilot, dragging ourselves from Monday to Monday like zombies.
It’s time to breathe. To savour. To exist without always having something to prove.
You owe it to yourself to guard your weekends like the precious, irreplaceable treasures they are.
You owe it to your future self — the one who dreams bigger, smiles wider, and lives freer — to give yourself space to reset now, because the truth is, the world will keep demanding. Jobs will keep asking. Emails will keep coming.
You have to be the one to stop, to say, “This is my time, and I intend to live it.”
So next Friday when the clock strikes five (or whenever your workday ends), make it your ritual to mentally, and maybe even physically shut that laptop, put the phone down, and step into your weekend with open arms.
Walk into your Saturday knowing you’re not slacking by resting.
You’re surviving.
You’re protecting your light.
You’re preparing yourself to shine even brighter when Monday comes.
Take back your weekends. Take back your peace. Take back you. Because the world doesn’t need a burnt-out version of you.
It needs the vibrant, rested, joyful you who remembers how to live.
And that version?
It’s waiting for you every weekend — if you’re willing to claim it.
You deserve it. Every single moment of it.
Stay frosty!
