Productivity // What about Saturdays?
Hey y’all! I don’t
know about you, but Monday through Friday, there never seems to be enough hours
in the day. Work, school, family time,
music lessons, sports practice, chores, exercise, cleaning, remembering to pray
for everyone who has asked you to... whatever your schedule looks like, it can
probably get overwhelming at times!
During the week, our to-do lists (or backwards to-do lists)
run long and we never seem to get everything accomplished. Those little extra things we wanted to do
rarely get done. We work and work and
work and exhaust ourselves and go to bed still stressed out because we have
much left to do. And although priorities
are totally different, Sundays aren’t much better if your schedule looks
anything like mine.
And then
there were Saturdays.
Most people view this day as the day to sleep in, relax, and
do what you please. You may end your
Friday night with a list that reaches from here to the moon of things you
didn’t accomplish during the week, but then on Saturday morning that list
disappears.
Do you ever feel like you waste your Saturdays? Many weeks I feel that way. I wake up, do the morning things… and then I
have no clue how to spend the rest of my day.
I even completely forget about all of the stuff I didn’t accomplish
during the week – or, I remember them but they no longer seem important.
God gave us seven days in a week, and His Word applies to all
seven. That means Saturdays, too.
(Ephesians 5:16) “Redeeming
the time...” even on Saturdays.
(1 Corinthians 4:2) “Moreover
it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful…” even on
Saturdays.
Just because we don’t have to do all the “important things”
on Saturday doesn’t mean that we aren’t still responsible to use our time wisely.
So, now that we’ve established that it’s still important to
use our time wisely on Saturdays, I’d like to share with you a fun list of
things you can do on Saturdays. Don’t
settle for Pinterest all day. Get up and
be productive!
- Put away electronics (including your phone).
- Go for a run.
- Lead a Bible study.
(Not sure how to get started?
Watch this video by Girl Defined.)
- Bake something yummy.
- Plan dinner.
- Write a letter.
- Spend a nice block of time in prayer. (Take a peek into my prayer journal here!)
- Know that project you’ve been wanting to try? Do it!
- Memorize Scripture. (Check these posts out: Why ScriptureTyper Works for Me, Memverse, Bible Studying Methods.)
- Workout.
- Blogger? Do blog
work + write a post.
- Go on a sibling date.
- Read a book. (Visit my recommendations page for some ideas.)
- Clean out your closet.
- Catch up on homework (even if you despise school on the
weekends).
- Go for a bike ride.
- Practice photography.
- Learn a new skill.
- Go hiking.
- Plan for the week ahead.
- Do laundry + set out clothes for Sunday.
- Spend lots of time with your family.
- Bible journal.
- Study + read up on + research a topic you’d like to know
more about.
- Have a creative business?
Build up your inventory.
- Change up your room a bit.
- Make a bouquet with any blooms to be found.
- Musician? Go through your music.
- Dust. (There’s
always something to dust.)
- Organize your books, music, clothing, etc.
- Go for a walk.
- Practice the neglected instrument (music peeps, you know
what I mean).
- Read your Bible.
- Writer? WRITE!
- Try a fun DIY project. (I have several fun ones here on my blog!)
And then… copy down this list and add your own ideas so you
can have it on hand!
I didn’t want to post this without including some tips for
how to prepare for Saturday productivity during
the week, so here you go…
Keep a
to-do list every day.
Don’t trash them at the end of the day. Save them to refer back to on Saturday, to
make sure there’s nothing important you’ve missed.
Keep a
prayer list/journal.
Sometimes when people ask us to pray for them, we
forget. My two suggestions are to 1)
pray about it immediately, and then 2) jot them down so you remember to pray
for them later (Saturdays are a great time!).
And of course, pray about it whenever it comes to mind. Don’t be hesitant to set a reminder for
yourself to follow up about the request!
Know what
your Saturdays hold.
Plan accordingly. If
you know you’re going to have a relaxed day, prepare for productivity
anyway. Print out the list above, have
an idea about what you’d like to do. Jot it down.
You’ll probably forget by Saturday morning.
Here are some other posts from the blog on wise time management/productivity:
I’d love to hear from you below!
Can you
relate to unproductive Saturdays? How
have you dealt with them?
What would
you add to my list of things to do on Saturdays?
Great post! My Saturdays of late have been super busy, but sometimes there ARE those Saturdays where I just want to do absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeleteAnd YES, a prayer list is DEFINITELY something I need to start... I have a lot to be praying about right now and I have trouble remembering everything!
And I like the idea of saving a to-do list from every day of the week. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for commenting, Grace. Prayer lists are so helpful -- you should definitely try one out! :)
DeleteI love the idea of getting things done on Saturdays! You can still look forward to it, because you can do more enjoyable things on Saturday than school+regular stuff. But this way you're actually DOING stuff, and can go to bed at the end of the night feeling good. It's the perfect day to do all those things you want to do someday, but never get around to!
ReplyDeleteI love your excitement and enthusiasm on using your Saturdays purposefully, Laura! I definitely agree! Saturdays are the perfect time to accomplish all the extra things you've been wanting to do.
DeleteThank you for this wonderful, thought provoking, and helpful post, Grace! I've wasted many Saturdays, I'm afraid, and never really thought about some of the things you mentioned. From now on, I'm going to do better with the Lord's help =) Love all your ideas, and I enjoyed looking at some of your other posts you linked too :)
ReplyDeleteBtw, I watched all your YouTube videos and love them!!! You have practiced really hard and are very accomplished. You play gorgeously with a lovely touch. Beautiful arrangements, too, and the Minuet is a piece I've loved for a long time, and so was delighted to hear! =) High-five for participating in those challenging finals!!
I am glad you were blessed by this post and the others you read, Alyssa. Which ones specifically did you read, if you don't mind sharing? :) It's been really fun lately to blog because I've gotten to a point where I can almost always find a post in my archives to link back to!
DeleteAww, thanks! You're too sweet. I have heard the Minute Waltz for years and wondered when I would finally be ready to play it, and last year I finally did! I wish I could play it in a minute, but I've never heard anyone do it that fast xD I can do it in 2 minutes tops. ;)
Love this list, Grace! You have such great ideas :) I love when you have posts like this!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! <3 I'm glad you enjoy these posts.
DeleteGrace, this was such a helpful post! :) I definitely struggle with productivity on Saturdays--these were great ideas, thank you! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anna -- I'm glad it was helpful!
DeleteThis was a great post and I loved all of your ideas! You are so right, we definitely should use our Saturdays productively! =)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Livy!
Delete