How to Plan for a Lazy Day

What a funny thing lazy days are.  You wait for ages to get one and when you finally do, you get so bored that you realise there’s other stuff you can be doing, so you go and do the other stuff and entirely forget your meant to be having a lazy day.  Then it starts all over again, you struggle like mad feeling all burnt out and waiting for the next opportunity to have a lazy day all over again.

The trouble is we become so use to running around busy all the time that we feel like we are at a complete stand still when we stop.  Effectively I guess we are but sometimes that’s just what the body and mind needs for you to feel relaxed again. 

There’s nothing relaxing about feeling frustrated with boredom, so the best thing you can do is plan to do ‘something on the day that you plan to do nothing!’  I know that sounds like a crazy concept but by doing something that is ‘something’ but feels like ‘nothing’ is the way to trick your mind into believing it’s keeping busy.

Next time you are going to be having a day off from work or some time to yourself and you want to spend it doing nothing, then its time to start planning to do something with it, except plan to do only the things that you find relaxing. 

You could plan that you will have a nice long soak in the bath in the morning before slipping back into your pjs or you could plan to do some of that retail therapy online that you’ve been waiting to do.  Have yourself a favourite meal planned that is quick and simple to make or decide if you want to order in a take away.  If you plan to watch a film; then try to pick one up the night before if you haven’t already got one that you want to watch.  Maybe you are planning to watch films all day underneath a quilt, if you think you won’t be able to sit there all day then plan things you can do whilst watching the films such as knitting, card making or building a model aeroplanes etc 

You don’t have to stick to your plan rigidly, you can change it around a bit and decide in the morning that you’d like to relax in the bath a bit later after you’ve watched films, played the Xbox or whatever else it is that you want to do.

Yes, it really is that difficult to have a day of doing nothing that a back up plan is required (absolutely essential).  What happens if you have decided you want to watch four films and get a bit bored after two and there’s nothing left to do?

Well, If you don’t have a back up plan then before you know it you’ll be off somewhere else making yourself busy all over again so have another option on stand by such as a fishing trip, reading a book or a magazine.

I imagine if you’ve been trying to plan a lazy day then it’s really not often you actually get one so minimise your distractions.  If you work from home on the computer then totally ban yourself from the computer for one day.  Consider turning your phone off for the day as well; tell your friends and family that you are having a peaceful day in advanced and that your phone will be off.  All you family and good friends will know where you are or live if they need you in an emergency. 

Without fail; when everybody finds out that you are having a day off to yourself, you will suddenly receive no end of offers to help occupy you.  You know how it goes ‘great you can come and help me pick out a new dress for the weekend’ or ‘brilliant I’ll get some beers in and you can come round and help me decorate’.

I love the way people try to fill up your day this way - like they are actually doing you the favour!

Try telling them that you’ll help next time or after work one day, at the weekend or just as soon as you can but not on this day. 

Be a little bit strict with yourself if you need to, I mean come on! You’ve cleared your diary for this and made all those plans, it would be morally wrong to bail out and cancel on yourself again, wouldn’t it!