The secret to an almost perfect weekend

“How can you make the most of your weekends to feel rested on Monday and, above all, to stay rested until the following Friday?”

This is Philippe Bilodeau, a reader of The Presswho suggested this reporting topic to us. We met him in a park on the South Shore to learn more about his questions.

Philippe Bilodeau is 28 years old, he is a landscape architect, and like most workers, he has two days off per week — Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday nights, after working all week in front of the computer, he sometimes feels “a little tired.” This lack of energy – or laziness? – sometimes makes him hesitate before accepting invitations to go out. “It actually seems counterintuitive to me to organize two or three social events a weekend when you should be resting, but I wonder if that’s the secret?” he says.

Philippe Bilodeau, who lives alone, realizes one thing: he feels more energized when he sees friends on the weekend than when he takes it “relaxing” by playing video games, surfing the Internet and going for a health walk.

The weekend effect

To help us complete this quest for an energizing weekend, we first join a researcher who has devoted his career to measuring well-being: economist John F. Helliwell, editor-in-chief of World Happiness Report and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia. He has been interested in the “weekend effect” in his research.

People’s assessment of their lives doesn’t vary by day of the week, but their emotions do. This is the weekend effect: When people’s moods are surveyed from Friday to Sunday, they typically report more happiness, joy, and laughter, and less worry, sadness, and anger, than on weekdays.

It’s not crazy to want to stock up on activities and pleasant emotions during the weekend to face the week that follows… but John F. Helliwell offers another angle of reflection. If we feel a “weekend effect”, it means that our weeks are less happy than our weekends… which is not necessary.

John F. Helliwell and his team analyzed data from a survey on well-being in the United States (the Gallup-Healthways US Daily Poll) and found this: the social context – at home and at work – is a determining factor in the weekend effect. When your workplace is reliable and open, and when you see your immediate manager as a partner, the weekend effect is almost non-existent, says John F. Helliwell. “In other words, these people have as much fun at work as they do on the weekend,” he summarizes.

That doesn’t mean taking endless coffee breaks. “It has more to do with the work you choose to do, who you choose to work with, and more directly how you connect with your colleagues,” says Helliwell, who points out that collaborative workplaces work better than competitive ones.

People underestimate the joy they can get from social interaction, Helliwell points out. They prefer to stare at their phones—even read elevator instructions!—rather than talk to the people around them. “I would say this to your reader: Try opening yourself up to conversations with strangers and with your neighbors, and see what effect it has on you.”

“And don’t take that extra social time from your sleep. Instead, take it from the time you spend sitting in front of TikTok or something else. We know that when you overdo these things, it’s very bad for your happiness.” And for your sleep too, by the way.

Focus on balance

Let’s get back to our reader, Philippe Bilodeau. He likes his work environment, which he finds collaborative. He’s even the type to prefer the office to teleworking, if only to go out to dinner with his colleagues.

How to best fill your weekends to recharge your batteries? Quiet activities or social events?

President of the Ordre des ergothérapeutes du Québec (OEQ), Alexandre Nadeau explains that there are three types of energy: physical, intellectual and emotional. And on both the physical and cognitive levels, he says, a well-proven principle applies: the more you do, the more your body adapts, and the less demanding the activity becomes.

It is by setting – realistic – objectives that synergy is established and that we ultimately become satisfied with our day-to-day life, summarizes the occupational therapist.

So we need to take action… and focus on balance. Alexandre Nadeau advises spreading out active and passive activities (which can include video games and TV series!) throughout the week… and not putting off until tomorrow what we enjoy. “When we get to the end of the week, we shouldn’t feel like we have to make up our entire week in terms of pleasure and rest,” he explains.

The same goes for organizational psychologist Julie Carignan, a certified human resources consultant and partner at Humance. When their children were young, Julie Carignan and her husband would set aside Wednesday evenings for a romantic evening at a restaurant. It was their ritual.

“We need to find moments to recharge our batteries as often as possible, because on the weekend, we also have personal and family responsibilities, housework, etc.,” reminds Julie Carignan. She also invites people to manage their expectations of the weekend and not feel guilty if they are tired on Sunday evening.

There is no such thing as a “perfect” weekend, she says. Needs vary from person to person, but also from week to week. “Sometimes it’s a need for socialization, sometimes it’s a need for support,” M.^me Carignan. And if I’ve been giving lectures all week, I’m going to want to be in my book by the weekend!”

Solo activities also play a role in well-being. They allow you to recharge your batteries in another way, says economist John F. Helliwell, who sees them as a complement to social interactions. “Each person must think about the dosage that suits them,” he summarizes. When we find this balance, emotional energy is renewed more easily, emphasizes occupational therapist Alexandre Nadeau.

It is no longer necessary to demonstrate: contact with nature and physical activity reduce stress and improve well-being, both physical and mental. Going for a walk, even if it is only 15 minutes, is often enough to regain the energy to undertake a more demanding activity, emphasizes Alexandre Nadeau.

“It’s a bit like high-level athletes: the more intense your life is on a personal and professional level, the more you have an interest in planning times to allow your body and mind to recover,” concludes Julie Carignan.