Ask Lemmy

Choose something else to worry about.

For example: I worry about the ever-decreasing time limit on life: Death

Problem solved, now I have a new problem.

🙃

I don't have an answer for you, but I can absolutely relate. Some people say something like "find a job you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." But for me, it doesn't work that way. I like my job, have awesome coworkers, and always look forward to the next week. But obviously I'd still rather be doing things I enjoy more. You know, playing that latest video game, finally finishing the Lego set I bought three months ago, hanging out with friends, etc. Two days out of seven just isn't enough time to do all that, which leads to anxiety about optimizing the little time I have.

One thing that has helped me somewhat (and I know I'm very privileged to be able to do this) is taking every other Friday off. A two-day weekend versus a three-day weekend makes a huge difference for me. I'm actually considering switching to having every Friday off. But then ofc, there might be the dilemma of having the time to do the things I enjoy but not enough money for them :(

Quit your job.

Though this solution will cause other problems, you probably won't care about how many hours are left in the weekend anymore.

That makes two of us.

I even keep thinking about not going to bed for some time just to extend the weekend time.

Anti-anxiety medication

Try and find a job you don't hate.

I lucked into a book called 'Discover What You Are Best At.'

Turns out, when you aren't miserable about going to work, a lot of your other problems vanish.

Monday

I have the opposite problem. I sit down Friday evening, and before I know it, it's Sunday night.

The irony of pointing this out when there is literally one less hour of the weekend this weekend...

I would say meditation could be helpful. Being present in the moment instead of looking forward prevents that creeping dread. Likewise planning things you want to do like hanging out with friends, going to shows/movies, and group activities will probably have you focused on those on those instead of starting your week

I used to look forward to weekends and would often postpone personal projects to the weekends where I would have the time to do them.

It's a lie. I don't have time in the weekends. There's always something else in the way, because everyone else also want to connect in weekends. It only causes frustration from not being able to do whatever I actually want.

It's also bullshit that I have to postpone private stuff for weekends. I want to live my life 7 out of 7 days. Not 2 and then work 5. I'm not happy with giving 70% of my life away, and hoping to catch up in the remaining 30%.

It might seem somewhat egoistic, but if you want time for yourself, you will have to prioritize time for yourself. That includes giving lower priority and more often saying no to work, friends and family. If you try to please everyone, then your time will be consumed by everyone. You have to put yourself first and align other people's expectations.

However, it's not really egoistic. It's better to be fully present when you're doing stuff with others, than to sit at their place wishing you were home. That includes work.

Also, I'm now focusing on carving out time in weekdays for the things I want to do. No more overtime work, no more procrastenation and relaxing just to prepare for the next day. Sure, I will work the agreed hours to make money, but I am going to take ownership of the rest of the day. That's somewhat easier in the summer where I have more energy and the weather is better. In the winter I am almost hibernating but then I also lower my expectations for what I can do.

So in short, it's necessary to plan your time and it's necessary to align expectations from others but also your own.

Sounds like your subconscious is not satisfied with the activities you’re up to on the weekend. Maybe you could do something g that’s more meaningful and you’ll be more engaged and therefore less distracted by the clock, which is a fairly boring thing.

Try waking up early, as if you have work or school, and starting the day with exercise and food. It’s a great way to make the day seem longer.

A little mental trickery you can use is to move to calculating how many hours have passed when you start thinking how many are left.

The brain is lazy, and creating extra effort will gradually make it avoid the original thought in the first place. It will also make you think about what you have managed to do, and the relax you have taken, instead of projecting into the things that are to come, that, since they are not already done, seem more tiresome.

This advice comes with 0 guarantee of success from a completely unreliable source. Take it with a grain of salt. In my case it works pretty well.

I work 7 days a week and I don't have this problem.

(Jokes, I do, but I like both my week job and my weekend job)

Stare at a clock for 2 minutes. Genuinely. I find it helps reset my perception of time

When I had that, I solved it by changing jobs. I loved my job, but everyone was stupid about work live balance and stress management. I realized after I changed that I really should have changed jobs sooner.

I basically have a schedule of things I want to get done planned ahead of the weekend. I keep myself occupied and don't worry about the time left before Monday. I do the things I planned and I'm so focused on what I'm doing I don't worry about anything else.