How To Recover After A Long Weekend

Walked into my house.  Went up to the bedroom.  Laid on the bed.  I was out.  After a weekend with 2000 teenagers (50 from my own) in Steubenville, Ohio I needed to recover.

Courtesy of BLWPhotography/Creative Commons License

You are going to have days, weekends and even weeks that drain you.  Positive or negative it doesn’t matter you need to recover.  The temptation might be to grind it out.  Or you might feel like hibernating.  But to truly recover after a long weekend you need to make sure you:

GET SOME SLEEP

Sounds obvious; yet, it’s constantly neglected. Even if the weekend was not physically tasking your emotions can take a lot out of you.  And don’t hold off.  The longer you wait on sleep the less productive you will be.

FUEL UP AND EAT RIGHT

Again it might not be a physically draining experience but your body needs fuel.  Eat your meals and eat healthy.  During times of stress it’s easy to just grab anything (and I mean anything).  Plan out your meals and stay away from the junk.

START UP SLOWLY

The tendency might be to get back into the trenches, but you need to hold back.  Ask your pastor if you can come in a little late.  Check email and voicemail later in the day.  Spend your time compiling a to-do list.  Focus on organizing and prioritizing your week.  

SPEND TIME IN REFLECTION AND PRAYER

Does not matter if the busyness was negative or positive, you need to digest it.  Sit down with someone and share what happened.  If you aren’t a talker, write it down in a journal.  Spend a few moments in prayer asking God to refresh and refuel you.  Embrace the journey you have just traveled.

Long days, weekends and weeks will eat away at you if you do not embrace them properly.  Recover correctly by taking care of yourself.  It might be a challenge at first, but it will help you in the long haul.

How do you recover from a long day or weekend?