> Sure, for the first couple days I wasting as much time as I possibly could - happily so - and then I started knocking out all the major house projects I had pending (insulating the crawlspace, fixing annoyances, etc).
It's amazing how many people in this thread are echoing similar sentiments. It's clear that the 2-day weekend doesn't seem to proffer enough time off for people to get "in the zone" so to speak.
Or maybe we've become accustomed to the 2-day weekend such that we don't value it's time as much. It seems like these "mini sabbaticals" some of you mention (2-week staycations) are the way to go.
But I know I have a lot of little projects I want to work on or explore, but knowing I won't have enough time or I could do something else (the opportunity cost), I often likewise waste time on nights and weekends.
So cumulatively, these nights and weekends add up to a greater time-length, but because they aren't in a contiguous block like your staycation, I end up with worse results than with the mini-sabbatical model, despite having more time overall.
I feel like three-to-four weeks may be a better minimum, but also clearly a luxury that most can't afford.
Not only are we accustomed to the two-day weekend, but there's also the rest of life to squeeze into a couple hours a day and then two days every week.
Due to strange sleeping habits, I have an extremely flexible schedule. I still put in an average of 40 hours a week, but sometimes it's nights, sometimes days, sometimes all within a couple days.
Even if I have four days left for a "weekend", I still have to account for all the things living in a modern society entail: paying bills, buying groceries, doing laundry, washing dishes, managing accounts, maintaining my house and car, mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, buying toilet paper and paper towels, etc. Sure, I can automate some of these things by way of a dishwasher, laundry services, and grocery delivery, but there's still attention required†.
Of course, and more importantly, there are the things I _want_ to do, like spend time with my wife, see friends and family, make fancy bread, tweak my home automation, sleep, and so on.
Even without a commute, all of these things fill my entire week. I think this is the source of time going by so quickly with age. The responsibility of maintaining a happy and stable life takes a good deal of maintenance. Add to that, the fact that I now require 6-8 hours of sleep when 4-5 used to be plenty for me, and the fact that we want to start a family, and I don't think 2 days a week will _ever_ cut it.
> I often likewise waste time on nights and weekends
Although it wasn't clear in my wording, I don't actually feel this time is truly wasted. The brain and body require time off and I'm more than happy to oblige.
† I have a note on my Instacart account that says "please use your best judgement - never call me unless you can't get to my front door"
Saying a 2-week is a mini-sabbatical reads like satire no matter how many quotes are around it. A term like that could work from the 3-month mark or something like that though, since it would be rare for even extended vacations to last that long.
It's amazing how many people in this thread are echoing similar sentiments. It's clear that the 2-day weekend doesn't seem to proffer enough time off for people to get "in the zone" so to speak.
Or maybe we've become accustomed to the 2-day weekend such that we don't value it's time as much. It seems like these "mini sabbaticals" some of you mention (2-week staycations) are the way to go.
But I know I have a lot of little projects I want to work on or explore, but knowing I won't have enough time or I could do something else (the opportunity cost), I often likewise waste time on nights and weekends.
So cumulatively, these nights and weekends add up to a greater time-length, but because they aren't in a contiguous block like your staycation, I end up with worse results than with the mini-sabbatical model, despite having more time overall.