Why you should treat your weekend like a vacation

Research suggests that simply treating your weekend like a vacation can make you happier

We hate to tell you, but capital-S Summer is well and truly underway, and well, clock’s ticking. Labour day is only seven weekends away.

So, it is perhaps crucial, extremely time sensitive, that we revisit the trusty “how to have a good weekend” advice well, in which most experts agree on one thing: your weekend should be treated like a sacred vacation, every week.

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This is no mere platitude either, but the findings of rigorous scientific study. A few years ago, scientists split a group of workers into one group, who were told to “think in ways and behave in ways as though you were on vacation,” and another who were told to “treat this weekend like a regular weekend.” The results will not surprise you: “Treating the weekend like a vacation increased people’s happiness when they returned to work on Monday.”

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The study also found that getting into vacay mode was remarkably simple, as easy as telling yourself to “treat the weekend like a vacation,” as it approaches. The first time the scientists did the experiment, they said the results “seemed too good to be true,” and ran it again, with the same results.

In practice, the difference wasn’t even huge. “The vacationers behaved somewhat differently: doing less housework and work for their jobs, staying in bed a little longer with their partner, and eating a bit more,” wrote one of the authors, Cassie Mogilner Holmes.

You might be wondering if this means spending a boatload more money ― no, it turns out. The vacationers only spend about $26 more per weekend. (The effect, Molinger Homes noted, also “held when we controlled for the amount of money” they spent.)

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“When used judiciously, however, this simple reframing allows you to enjoy some of the happiness from a vacation without taking additional time off,” Molinger Holmes concluded. “Your mindset is more important than the activities you take part in, or the amount of money you spend, when you’re not at work. So, between weekend errands, soccer practices, and birthday parties, try to notice and appreciate the time you do have.”

Like I said ― seven weekends ‘til Labour Day. Kieran Delamont