Do you ever feel like your week-ends are made of unending lists of to-do’s and deliverables of all kinds? I know I used to. Saturdays would start with the kids’ soccer practice, then cleaning the house, running errands and visiting family. Sundays would be a mad dash to church, followed by the grocery store, catching up on laundry and planning the week. Oh, and did I mention the birthday parties, kids’ playdates, and other social activities…By the time Sunday would roll around, I’d be wiped out…literally!

The end result is that so many of us end up at work on Mondays looking for our sanity and a clean coffee cup! This is only so we can start working on the weekly memo, catch up on email and tackle that gigantic work to-do list. No wonder so few of us working moms have the motivation to excel at work, when our week-ends are so whirlwinds of activities and chores!

Here are some quick ways we can start reversing the tide, and stopping our week-ends from ruining our careers (and sanity):

1. Quit spinning your wheels!

Ever felt like a hamster spinning on a wheel of unending tasks and chores on week-ends? Between running to the grocery store, (barely) making it to kids’ sports practice, rushing to the next kids’ birthday party (as you scramble for a pen to scribble on the party bag because you mixed up the birthday boy’s 2-year birthday card with your aunt’s 60th), it just NEVER ends! Yet what we don’t realize is that not only is there nothing fun about spinning one’s wheels, but ultimately it leaves us depleted, ineffective and highly annoyed! When it comes to being effective, at work or in life, quality trumps quantity, so please, stop spinning!

2. Use the work week!

I realized a while ago that if the work week is going to suck anyways, I might as well spare my week-ends! Translation: stop putting off all your chores and tasks to the week-end! Laundry backed up? Schedule one hour after the kids go to bed to tackle the monster during the week. Kids’ piano lesson on Saturdays at 9am? Can that be scheduled after work so you can have a normal Saturday morning again? Food shopping? Take the kids on a supermarket field trip in the middle of the week, and call it a day.

3. Party on Sundays!

While you may think of Sundays as your day to get a break, relax on the couch or catch up on laundry, you may actually be better off having a good ol’ time right before returning to work. So go ahead and host the kids’ birthday party on Sunday afternoon! Or join a few friends for some Sangria! Whatever you do, don’t sit there thinking about what a drag going back to work will be in a few hours!

Are your week-ends ruining your career? What are you doing about it?

The Corporate Sis.