Time seems to fly in Dubai. How can it be that we’re almost in April while we just celebrated New Year’s Eve? They say time flies if you’re having fun. Generally, that seems to be true and like you, I don’t want to stop having a good time. And yet, I know that we can’t always have fun and live carelessly in the day. Often, the weekend is filled with errands, boring tasks which were ignored during the week and some fun activities. How can you make your time work for you and enjoy your weekends even more?

During the week, we’re all exhausted from work or looking after the children. See if you can keep 2 evenings for your personal appointments. These 2 evenings will not be me time, like your workout at the gym or going to a ladies night. These 2 nights focusing on other activities will give you more free time on the weekend!

Personal paper work and emails

Use one evening to catch up on your personal paper work and emails. Handle what requires your actions, for example, responding to an invite, paying the bill or filing the documents. Electronic documents should also be filed properly You’d be surprised how much quicker boring tasks like these become if you’re doing them more frequently.

Housework and errands

Use the other evening for housework and errands. If a cleaner or maid is helping you with tasks like mopping the floors or doing laundry, great! You can focus on other activities like food shopping for the week. Instead of going on the weekend, get your groceries early in the week. The supermarkets aren’t as crowded, reducing your time. Combine this with other errands and map out the best way. This will avoid zip zapping around Dubai and being stuck in traffic.

Weekend plans and priorities

Think what you want or need to do this weekend. What is a priority for you? Is it spending time with your loved ones, meeting your friends at a brunch or doing nothing?

Whatever it is, block time for it when you’re reviewing what has already been planned or which invites have been accepted. For example, if you’re going to a brunch on Friday, will you have time to do anything else later in the afternoon on in the evening? Factor in travel time as you’re looking at your weekend plans.

If you’re seeing an activity for this weekend, which you don’t want to attend, can you still excuse yourself? Learn to say “I’ll consider your invitation and will get back to you” as you’re getting invited to events. This gives you time to think what’s important for you, how you want to spend your time and you still have an option to accept or decline the invite in due course.

Get ready for the next week

It’s been said that 1 minute spent on planning saves you 10 minutes on the execution. At the end of your weekend, look at what’s coming up for your work and personal life. Ideally, you’ve spend some time your next work week before you left the office for the weekend. If not, look at your calendar now.

Check your personal appointments for the next week, too. Is there anything you need to prepare for in advance? For example, if you’re invited to a friend’s house for dinner this week, get some chocolate when running your errands (see above) rather than last minute on the day.

Look also at the events of your loved ones. If you and your spouse are out the same night, do you need to arrange for a baby sitter?

Have your outfits prepared

At the beginning of the week, choose your outfit for the next week. Iron the clothes in advance or have your cleaner do it for you. Select also which accessories you’ll wear (earrings, necklace, purse), what shoes to put on and what make up you want to apply. Early mornings can be tight and getting an extra 15 minutes in bed can be fabulous, if you already know what you’ll wear that day.

And those of your children, too

If you have children, have them pick out their outfits for the next week. This includes their undies and any sports gear which they’ll need. Aren’t school uniforms a great idea?! No more morning melt downs!

Are you looking for some more time in your week? Are you suffering from too many paper piles laying around? Find out how I can help you to free you up and give you more time to enjoy your life. Simply contact me here.

Until next time,
Agni