How to make your weekends feel twice as long

🎉 It’s that day again, you know the one!
Issue #183: creativity tips from Tony Soprano and what to do when you feel misunderstood
By Harris Sockel

I thought I’d take a hard left out of what we’ve covered in this newsletter lately — WordPress drama, hurricanes, the worst Michelin-starred restaurant on Earth — to plunder the archive and share some of the best stories about, just, how to do a weekend right.

Because it’s that time again (weekend time) and, honestly, I never know how to make the best use of these precious 48 hours. Weekends are a relatively new invention, historically speaking. And they don’t come with an instruction manual.

Laura Vanderkam reminds us that, while a weekend can feel short, it contains roughly the same number of hours as your work week (37 waking hours between 5 p.m. Friday and 10 p.m. Sunday). But because there’s less built-in accountability, we waste it. For years, she used a time-tracking device to monitor how she spent her weekends — not to scare herself into productivity, but to become more aware. She calls it “The Weekend Experiment That Will Change Your Life,” and it did change hers. Seeing how she actually used those 48 hours led her to spend less time mindlessly checking email and more time reading, puzzling, and doing things worth remembering.

Johanna Vann turned off email and Slack notifications on weekends (go ahead, just delete Slack from your phone every weekend, it’s fine!), and suddenly those two days felt twice as long. Nishith Goyal sees weekends as opportunities to build the life you want: they’re rough drafts for what you want your weeks to be, someday.

What’s your perfect weekend?

We’re also reading: Creativity advice from The Sopranos

Don’t read this if you’re planning on watching The Sopranos anytime soon, because spoilers abound, but: Sasha Zeiger explains how the Emmy award-winning show’s final episode taught her how to take creative risks.

Tony Soprano is a sympathetic character because he’s cut his identity in half. He’s a mob boss, but also a regular guy. He’s evil, yet… nice? His life is pragmatic but risky. Splitting yourself in two like that is a terrible way to live! It’s also not the best mindset for getting work done, especially creative work. After the final episode, Zeigler had this realization:

My best creations are expressions of pure subjectivity, authentic curiosity, and channeled vulnerability, which are inaccessible from a fragmented part of myself.

One more piece of practical wisdom for your weekend

When you feel misunderstood, it’s easy to want to push the other person to understand you. The better, yet counterintuitive approach? Attempt to understand them.

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Edited and produced by Scott Lamb & Harris Sockel

Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us: tips@medium.com

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