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“No, we’re not doing that today. It’s Wednesday, Sarah. We’re doing that the first Tuesday of next month.”

Have you had a conversation like this ☝️ at some point in the last few months?

Because WHAT IS TIME EVEN. Is it a weekday? What month is this? Where am I, what year is it,  and why are we wearing high-rise jeans again???

If your workweek feels like a treadmill of meetings and errands and un-joyful obligations, I hear you. More than once I’ve had a meltdown where I cried “It feels like my life is just hanging shelves and going to Target to buy laundry detergent!!! ??”

Making the weekdays feel more intentional – and even enjoyable? – takes work, effort, and introspection. Here are 4 of my favorite ways to make our work weeks feel better. 

4 ways to make your workweek more enjoyable

✨ Inject variety into your week days – don’t save all the good stuff for the weekend

Did you know that ‘variety’ is one of six human emotional needs? (Things I learned from that $75 ecourse bundle I was part of last month!)

When we think of human needs, I think most of us think of Maslow’s hierarchy-style needs: food, shelter, safety, love. But many of us have those bases covered and we still feel a bit … shrug emoji.

Variety in your workweek could look like:

• Getting lunch takeout from a new restaurant 
• Starting or finishing your workday at a different time
• Working from a different space – even if it’s just moving your laptop to a different room!
• Getting up early and making yourself a “real” breakfast
• Eating an easy, early dinner and doing something usually reserved for the weekend with your evening
• Reading a novel on your lunch break
• Walking the dog in a different neighborhood or a new dog park
• Wearing your “closet orphans,” styling your hair in a different way, trying something new with your makeup

These things sound comically small, right? Like, will you feel any different wearing that sweater in the back of your closet or to get up an hour early to make pancakes on a Tuesday?

Every human brain is different, but for most of us – a change is as good as a break and novelty + variety can dramatically improve our moods and outlooks.

⌚ Take an honest look at where your time is going

Some of us are really, truly busy. For some of us, there are honest-to-God not enough hours in the day to stay on top of our lives.

And also! The average American spends 3 hours a day on their phone and 4 hours a day watching tv. I’m not here to shame you for your Netflix queue, but. A good question to ask ourselves: “Is this a time scarcity issue or a time management issue?” Share on X
The answer might be a “a little bit of both?” But if we want our work weeks to feel less treadmill-y, we need time + energy to do that.

And we won’t have time + energy to add variety + space to our Wednesday nights if we spend every Wednesday night half-watching Netflix while also scrolling Instagram.

Ways to track your time: 

• Toggl (free time-tracking software you can install in the menu bar of your computer) 
• Offtime phone app (for both Android and Apple) 
• A good ol’ spreadsheet! 

P.S. You might like my free How To Rescue The Time & Energy To Go After What You Want workbook + audio download

? Lower your standards 

Are you making from-scratch, two-sides-and-a-main dinners every night? Trying to do 1.5 hour workouts? Trying to keep your home 100% spic and span while also working 8 – 10 hour days?

In case you need permission: It’s okay to lower your standards. You’ll have more time + energy to remove those treadmill feelings if you turn the treadmill to a lower speed.

It’s okay to eat Trader Joe’s frozen entrees three times a week! It’s okay to walk the dog for 30 minutes a day and call that your workout! It’s okay to run the Roomba, wipe down the counters and announce that your home is officially clean enough.

When you give less time to these things, you’ll have more time for things that fill you up.

➡️ Outsource if you can 

Fewer bullshit, boring tasks = fewer workweek treadmill feelings.

You can probably outsource things without spending any money! Could you and a friend both make double batches of freezer meals and swap so there’s one less meal to cook? Can you skill swap with a neighbor – they blow out your driveway and sidewalk this winter, you walk their dog alongside yours twice a day?

And of course, you can pay someone to take on some of these treadmill-y tasks. Have your groceries delivered, hire a lawn care or snow-removal service, bring a handy-person for those time-sucking little house projects. If you’ve got space in your budget, allocate accordingly.

Do you think these things will help your weekdays feel a little more joyful and a little less boring? Adding variety, time tracking, lowering your standards, and outsourcing – trying even one of these can help!

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash