(Pictured above, my cat, being super lazy and super cute, just like me)
On Monday, I woke up at 10 am. I made myself breakfast, and I watched a few episodes of Glee while I puttered around my apartment. Around noon, I sat down to finished some homework that I didn't get to before the weekend began. I thought to myself: "Four day weekends are the bomb."
And they really are the bomb. On Thursdays, I work diligently until 5 or 6 pm, and then my weekend begins (usually with almost, if not all, of my homework, finished). I watch the newest installments of ABC and Shonda Rhimes' #TGIT, and I go out with friends for dinner and drinks. On Fridays, I wake up just before noon, and I spend these so-called 'mornings' Reading for Fun and/or catching up on some of my own personal projects.
Sure, I have a job. I don't just sit at home all weekend relishing in laziness, not that laziness is something college students don't deserve to relish in. I work! But on the weekends that is all I have to do. So when I get home from work I can relax because my weekends are truly guilt-free.
Each weekend this semester -- my first venture into the Tuesday-/Thursday-classes only life -- has been like this. I have found such a balance and peace of mind in my weekends. I do what I want for a near-full 92 hours! And these 92 hours? They are completely guilt-free, my friend.
However, that's not to say I am not the pinnacle of stress from 8 am Tuesday morning to 5 pm Thursday afternoon. I work hard and I often struggle to stay focused in order to keep my weekend as my weekend. I have to prioritize my studies -- I usually save my easiest homework for last, so I'm less likely to put it off. Sometimes I end up having rollover homework on Tuesday night because I neglected to write a report in a decent amount of time, but this rollover is not a constant stressor in the back of my mind during the weekends.
Priorities here, in fact, are key to the success of the Tuesday/Thursday plan. Marry yourself to your schoolwork during your shortened school week, and then cheat on this prioritized incarnation of yourself every weekend, when you are finally able to zip up your backpack -- which has already been packed for the next week -- and carry on with your new-found zen self.
Now, my dear reader, I implore you; When was your last truly guilt-free weekend? If you can't remember, it's been too long. So, when planning your course schedule for your next semester (it is that time again, isn't it?), consider the plan I have laid at your feet, because, friend? It is amazing.
