A special form of procrastination is to postpone work on week-ends. “I will not do it know, because I can do it on week-end where I have more time etc.)”. On week-end it then often is hard getting started and kept postponing tasks from Saturday to Sunday and ended up completing things Sunday evening or even Monday morning. The remaining time of the week-end I always had a bad conscious and I could not enjoy my recreation time.

As a general principle you therefore better don’t even think of work during week-end unless you are in an exceptionally busy period. You also avoid the danger of making it a habit, which results in working all the time and consequently increasing the risk of a burn-out.

On a Friday I rather work late without limit to complete all tasks for the week and prepare for the next week. Once all is finished I can really enjoy my free time and don’t have to bother about unfinished tasks. When I feel the sensation of postponing something to the week-end I motivate myself by imagining what I will all do in my free time.

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3 Responses to “Avoid planning work on weekends”

  1. John Kendrick says:
    September 29, 2008 at 9:58 pm

    I agree with you. One of the things I do allow myself on the weekend is my weekly review. It works much better when I am away from work and can relax and look at the big picture as I plan for the next week.

    I’ve written several posts about my experiences with time management on my blog at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com/how-to-gtd/ John

  2. Kell says:
    October 1, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    I agree also with you. Time management is really about living effectively, and the surest way for this to occur is to have balance.
    Taking home work on a regular basis takes away time from your family, friends and social life, which are also very important to a balanced life.
    My time management course is helpful to set priorities, plan your work and work your plan, so that you can ensure that you don’t need to take work home.
    Kell

  3. Kell says:
    October 1, 2008 at 6:56 pm

    I agree with you. Time management is really about finding balance, and taking work home is something that takes away from family, friends and social life.
    What I do on Sunday night though, is to plan the things that I would like to do that week. By setting a plan of work, I then spend the week trying to work the plan. For me it works

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