15 Things Successful Entrepreneurs Do on the Weekends

How are you spending your Saturdays and Sundays? Here’s how to make sure you’re not wasting them.

If you’re like most people, you probably want to spend your Saturday and Sunday sleeping in, only to roll out of bed and onto the couch to veg out in front of a little mindless TV—but just until it’s time to change out of your sweats and into real clothes for dinner and a fun night of drinking. Right? Yeah, that’s most people, but not entrepreneurs.

They use their time a little more wisely—because they realize if they want to be successful, they have to go do something about it. Follow their lead and you can become more productive, too… even on a Saturday.

Here are fifteen things successful entrepreneurs do on the weekends:

Wake up early.

Savvy entrepreneurs know that if they sleep in on Saturdays and Sundays, their sleep schedule will be thrown off for the rest of the week. They also know that the most productive hours of the day are usually in the morning—and if they have work to do this weekend and want time left over for some recreation, they have to set their alarm clock earlier.

Try 5:30 in the morning. Twitter co-founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey rises at 5:30 a.m. to go for a six-mile jog and then catches up on any business he didn’t get to during the workweek.

Indulge in exercise.

The only thing that entrepreneurs choose to indulge in on the weekend is exercise. Because they often don’t have the time to fit in a good workout Monday through Friday, the weekend is the perfect time for some much-needed cardio.

Even more efficient, make your exercise something recreational with the family. Activities like kayaking, hiking, biking and friendly sports skirmishes all help relieve some of the tension and monotony of the workweek.

Socialize and network at community events.

Human beings need social interaction to lead healthy, productive lifestyles, which is something entrepreneurs recognize. On the precious days when these successful people aren’t working, they take the time to interact with friends and family—or take the opportunity to meet someone new.

And the people truly seeking success never write off a bake sale, 5K, theater performance or arts fair as a silly waste of time. They see it as an opportunity to make connections and grow their presence. Because there are always influential people to meet at these sorts of events, and a savvy entrepreneur will make the time to recognize and meet the people who make up a community.

Work on and outsource projects.

Quiet weekend mornings are an ideal time to make headway on some of your more important work projects, to pick up the slack on projects before the busyness of weekday life filters in.

“Focus on outsourcing projects so that you can enjoy the rest of your weekend,” Mabbly.com suggests. “SEO and social media interaction that weren’t completed during the week can be outsourced to individuals or agencies that specialize in that kind of work.”

Pursue a passion.

Exercising creativity is one of the biggest secrets to maintaining a productive and successful lifestyle. The most efficacious of people will set aside some time for creative pursuits, like writing a novel or biography, enrolling in art classes or tinkering on old cars. Whatever the project is, it usually doesn’t involve work. It’s just a healthy hobby that feeds the passion and creativity entrepreneurs use throughout their workweek to reach the top.

Give thanks

Many of the most successful people in the world make a habit of giving thanks. This is an especially good practice to incorporate on weekends if you’re dreading Monday morning.

Instead of hating the upcoming work week, make a habit of taking time on the weekend to be thankful for all of the good things in your life. Be grateful you have a job to go to (or a business to run), a place to live, a family and friends who love you, and much more. Write down in a special journal three to five specific things you’re grateful for, no matter how small. You’ll find making a habit of gratitude makes the upcoming work week easier to face and more enjoyable.

If you find yourself dragging at the start of the week, re-read your journal entries. The inspiration you’ll feel will help you return to work in a more successful, productive mindset.

Socialize.

Humans are social creatures, and studies of people’s experienced happiness through the day finds that socializing ranks right up there, not too far down below sex. Go out with friends and family, or get involved in the local community.

Meditate.

Classes and private instruction offer a bespoke approach to insight and peace of mind. How better to equip yourself for success in this very tough world?

Do Something Different

Your weekends should feel different than your workweeks. For this reason, find yourself hobbies to do on weekends like swimming or playing tennis or painting. If you don’t have any hobbies, you can go to the gym and exercise. This will help you clear your mind and let your body recover from the stress of the workweek.

Look at the big picture.

Weekends are an important opportunity to step back and look at the big picture. How are things going in your personal and professional life? An unhurried Saturday or Sunday is a good time to reflect and plan for your future. Are you happy with your career? Is your family life all you hoped it would be? If not, what kind of changes do you need to make?

Get into the habit of reviewing your progress on monthly or yearly goals. Have you been able to workout three times a week? If not, how can you work it in this coming week? By tracking how your goals are progressing, you can make changes as needed for the upcoming work week. These big picture habits help you succeed in all areas of your life – work and otherwise.

Reflect

What did you do well this past week and what did you do wrong? How will you be better in the week ahead? Reflecting on the past week offers the successful entrepreneur the opportunity to determine which activities to continue and which to let go. Reflection is a valuable investment of your time that will help you set the goals that will get you to the next level of success during the upcoming week.

Catching up on administrative work

Many business owners do work on the weekends, at least for a few hours. Weekends are an awesome time to get stuff done without being interrupted: Employees aren’t asking questions. Salespeople aren’t calling. And the mindset is more relaxed.

Learn something new.

Learning not only gives you new knowledge but it can also improve your confidence. Find a subject you’re interested in, a skill you want to develop, or an area you want to explore more deeply. From there, you can sign up for a weekend class or online study, put together an informal study group, or make your own learning plan.

Plan your week ahead

The successful entrepreneur doesn’t wait until Monday morning to plan for the week. Sunday is the perfect day to sit down and draw a plan. After spending time reflecting on the prior week, you will have a good idea of what you need and want to accomplish. Use this time to schedule important tasks, phone calls and face-to-face meetings that align with your goals. Planning out the entire week ahead as much as reasonably possible guards against missed opportunities and costly errors.

Being flexible

Although it would be nice to take every weekend off, successful are prepared to work when the right opportunity comes along. Clearly, you’d prefer to be 100 percent about leisure on weekends, but the demands of a growing business sometimes dictate otherwise.

These fifteen weekend habits appear so simple that you may be tempted to dismiss them as non-essential. But the entrepreneur that begins to add these habits to their weekend routine will find themselves steps ahead every Monday morning.

Leisure time is a precious commodity for successful people, and if you’re willing to use it the right way, it will lead to a healthy balance between success and recreation.

So, what are you doing this weekend?

To your success,