Smarter Living: What to do with a day off

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SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

Rose Wong

By Tim Herrera

If you're fortunate enough to have Labor Day off from work, the most important thing on your to-do list today is to actually take the day off. Studies have shown that people send only 40 percent less email on holiday Mondays compared with regular Mondays. (Thank you, smartphones and tablets.) Not only that, but taking time to let your brain rest and recover "literally makes us more creative, better at problem-solving, better at coming up with creative ideas."

So, great, we're all out of work mode and ready to enjoy the day. But what to do? Here are a few suggestions on how best to spend your day off.

Embrace laziness

Yes, yes, you're busy, I'm busy, we're busy-ing ourselves to exhaustion. But if you have today off, take a conscious stand against all this busyness. Being busy — if we even are busy — is rarely the status indicator we've come to believe it is. Nonetheless, the impact is real, and instances of burnout, anxiety disorders and stress-related diseases are on the rise. Read more »

Forgive someone

What does holding onto grudges really get us, aside from amusing anecdotes at parties? And what could we gain from giving them up? As it turns out, quite a lot: A 2006 study suggested that "skills-based forgiveness training may prove effective in reducing anger as a coping style, reducing perceived stress and physical health symptoms, and thereby may help reduce" the stress we put on our immune and cardiovascular systems. So, you know, maybe it's worth it. Read more »

Have a family meal

It can be tough to get the whole family together for a meal. Work, school, sports practices and other obligations all seem to get in the way. But studies show that families who dine at home together are happier and healthier. Read more »

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Fix your finances

This series on personal finance is a great starting place if you've been meaning to get your money life in order. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of financial literacy, we have something for you:

Do that one thing you've been putting off

Yeah, yeah, you'll get to it sometime — it's the little fib we all tell ourselves to get out of doing the things on our to-do list that are hanging over our heads. But today is a great day just to get it done! Send that email, finish up that task at home, send that holiday thank-you note you still haven't gotten around to. Whatever it is, just do it. You'll feel so much better, I promise. Read more »

Do absolutely nothing

Not much more to say here! Give yourself permission to plant in front of the TV today, recharge your batteries and get a good night's sleep. It might even make you more productive at work this week. Read more »

Tweet me @timherrera and let me know what you get up to, and have a great week!

— Tim

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Tip of the Week

This week I've invited friend of S.L. Micaela Marini Higgs to teach us how to stop making vague plans we know we'll never follow through on.

For years I approached making plans with new people the way that many of us do: parroting "Yes! We should definitely hang out!" back and forth until someone eventually moved to another country.

Filled with good, or at least polite, intentions, we're all waiting for someone else to like us enough to make a move.

So how do you break out of plan-promising-purgatory, actually make new friends and shed that vague sense of guilt whenever you run into someone you swore to schedule with?

First, if you have no intention of making plans, stop lying. Expressing a fake desire to hang out isn't any more polite than saying, "It was great running into you." It also spares you from having to make excuses in the future about how you meant to reach out but were sooo busy.

And if you do want to hang out, get specific: "Are you free on Thursday evening?" is much easier to answer than a general "When are you available?" You'll get an immediate answer, and if they are busy people are usually good about suggesting another time.

Naming specific activities — name a restaurant you want to try, a bar you want to go to or a museum you both love — is also an easy way to get everyone more excited and serious about finalizing a plan.

Trying to make friends is a bit like dating. You might get ghosted. You might not have chemistry. You might discover your favorite person ever.

But to find out, you've actually got to hang out.