Slowdown Friday: 6.5 Things You Can do This Weekend to Recharge

It's another Friday and what better way to head into the weekend than to think of some ways to recharge the batteries?  It's a known fact that most Americans don't rest as much as they should, nor do they take advantage of paid, that's right paid, vacation time.  Here are some easy ways to regain energy and feel great for the next time work rolls around.



  1. Get outside. When I'm in a funk, the best thing I can do is get outside.  Find a park, walk in your neighborhood or go to the beach.  It's amazing how seldom we actually touch the earth (dirt, wind, grass, etc.) so whenever you can get outdoors, enjoy the moment.


  2. Pick a show and watch the whole thing. Whether it's something as simple as a Saturday night movie or a Broadway production, sitting for a block of time and enjoying a show is a great way to recharge the batteries. 


  3. Do some manual labor. The ancient monks were on to something when they designed their lifestyle around meditation and manual labor.  Manual labor provides time to think, a sense of accomplishment and just the right amount of "tired" to feel like you've done something of value.


  4. Play.  Run around with your kids, go swimming, visit the local arcade...the possibilities are endless.  Don't be afraid to be a kid, even if you're not.  I have three little ones so there are plenty of opportunities to get on the floor and play.


  5. Take a nap.  Open up the windows, kick back and enjoy a good weekend snooze.  Give yourself permission to relax.  Sometimes a short nap (15 mins.) is like magic for a tired body.


  6. Relax with some blog reading.  If you subscribe to as many blogs as I do (24 at this point), you need an occasional chunk of time to catch up. 


               6.5.  Reconnect with God.  Spend some time in prayer, write in your journal and evaluate
                        your relationship with God.



Here's the great thing about all of these items: they're free! 


Keep it Simple: Goal Setting

Dwayne from Genuine Curiosity has tagged me to respond to Thea from Life Wealth.  Thea started a very interesting tagging process to get folks to reflect on their "top 5 to 10 goals that I gotta’ get so that I can truly say I have achieved my wildest dreams in life".  Here goes:



  1. To raise a family that is healthy, sees itself in service to others and is productive.  When I think of health, I am considering a very broad view that includes the physical, financial, social and spiritual.  I want my family to make a difference in the world and to also do some amazing things (that's the productive part).  My hope is that my marriage to Cary is life-giving for many, many decades.  I've always admired those elderly couples that are still in love after all those years of sacrificing, child raising and life experience.


  2. To cultivate a career-path that taps into my unique set of talents and skills. While I am currently employed by a school, I am hoping to "go out on my own" within the next few years- this is very scary, somewhat impractical and misunderstood by 99% of others but nonetheless something I'd like to do. 


  3. To be set financially so that I can do wild things with my money that help others.  Who wouldn't want to give an anonymous gift to your alma mater of $1 million?  Who wouldn't want to build a school for children who have close to nothing?  Ok, I'd also like to be able to buy the latest gadget so that I don't have to stress over buying the latest gadget.


  4. To motivate lots of people.  I recently asked for feedback over a workshop that I had provided for education professionals and my responder said, "You left them with hope and that's very important."  Whether I'm teaching the Scriptures or discussing productivity, I want to motivate people so that they believe that change is possible.


  5. To help people of faith connect with the business world. I truly believe that the business world is a source of untapped wisdom and insight and have wanted to help folks in ministry be better stewards.  I'm not sure what this ultimately looks like but the desire to bridge two worlds is, I believe, a noble one.


Ok, that's all for me.  Now I'm going to tag the following folks to answer the same question that Dwayne gave me:



Allan from Allan Wright Workshops
Gene from Brother Blue Publishing
Mike from Mike Patin Ministries



Lisa from Catholic Mom Moments
D. Scott Miller from the Archdiocese of Baltimore



Even if you don't know these folks, their work is of high-quality, as is their character. 


Interruptions at Home

It's easy to close the door to your colleagues at work when you're
trying to hunker down and work on a project but what about at home?
It's not always practical (nor responsible) to leave your kids alone
while you go off into another room to work, pay the bills or talk on
the phone. Many parents practice skillfully the art of multitasking
when it comes to this: working out while baby is in the bouncy seat,
doing the dishes while Johnny is drawing, etc.

What can you do to help your children respect your time/space when you need to get something done? Families.com has some suggestions but I really like those put forth by Keep Kids Healthy. Some great suggestions include:



  • prepare kids for your time of focused work, telling them in advance


  • distract them (sometimes a wholesome movie is okay and the right thing to do)


  • emphasize that learning not to interrupt is part of learning good manners


Whether you have children or not, helping those around you to respect your desire to get things done is always a good idea!