Let’s be real here – nobody wants to work on the weekends. Weekends are supposed to be the time where you spend time on anything BUT work. Most of us don’t even want to think about work during the weekend, let alone go to the dreaded office. In modern times, though, we’re juggling more and more on a daily basis. Our personal and work lives are merging more than ever. Most of us work more on average than we did in the past, too! In this article, we’re discussing going to the office on the weekend, and 5 situations when it’s beneficial. Let’s dive in.
The 5 Situations When Going To The Office On The Weekend Is Worth It
While we always ask you to refer to your own best judgement, here are 5 situations when we think going to the office on the weekend is worth it for you:
- You Have Mid-Week Plans Outside Of Work
- Your Work Requires Focus That You Can’t Get When The Office Is Busy
- You Need To Print & Scan A LOT Of Documents
- Your Office Is Starting To Get Messy
- There’s A Big Deadline Looming
Below is a bit more details as to why we think these situations call for a little weekend work.
1. You Have Mid-Week Plans Outside Of Work
As our work and personal lives overlap more and more, it’s no surprise that we need to shift around our schedule on occasion.
Some of us have hobbies outside of work during the week. We may need to leave mid-afternoon once per week in order to facilitate this. The same can be said for family requirements or health-related commitments as well.
By working a little on the weekend, you’ll give yourself breathing room to still get work done and maintain your commitments.
The alternatives are either working less, which could affect your overall job performance, or working late at night during the week to keep up. This will most likely cause you to lose sleep and interrupt your personal life in other ways. Neither is great.
For the record, this work doesn’t need to be ‘at the office’ either – if you can do it at home, more power to you.
Read Next: How To Have A Life Outside Of Work: Give These 10 Tips A Try
2. Your Work Requires Focus That You Can’t Get When The Office Is Busy
Does your work require that you have hours of uninterrupted time to focus? Do you feel distracted throughout the workday by all sorts of things that aren’t your own actual work?
Going to the office on the weekend may be your solution. Many jobs require intense focus and lots of attention to detail.
Accountants and programmers must be able to focus intensely on a massive set of data. Artists and writers need focus and space to create. These are just a few of the many examples where work requires some peace and quiet.
It’s almost impossible to really focus on your work when the phone’s dinging and people are stopping by every two minutes. You may feel a whole lot more balanced if you put in a few hours on the weekends instead.
Read Next: How Can I Get Back My Focus At Work? 4 Common Situations
3. You Need To Print & Scan A LOT Of Documents
Is the printer or scanner in your office running constantly? If someone’s printing out a massive document, does the rest of the office stare daggers at them? This is the case in most offices. In turn, it’s really difficult to print or scan a lot at once.
But some jobs require this. In construction, for instance, a huge part of the project exists on paper before becoming a reality. This include large drawings, technical info and many other documents. Many other industries – from creative to corporate – still rely heavily on paper in this increasingly paperless society.
If you’ve got a couple hours of scanning and printing to do, it’ll be pretty tough to squeeze it in throughout the week. Instead, consider going to the office on the weekend to get it done – it’s easy, mindless work that probably won’t take that long when there’s no one else around.
Read Next: The Importance Of Office Administration: 4 Key Aspects & Responsibilities
4. Your Office Is Starting To Get Messy
Is your office in need of some TLC? Nobody likes to work in a messy office, just like no bosses want their employees to have a messy office. Plus, working in a messy office negatively affects our minds and performance (via Harvard Business Review).
To make matters worse, we usually don’t have time to get any real cleaning done throughout the week. It’s a catch-22 – we need a clean desk to think and work our best, but we seldom have time to actually clean up the mess.
The solution? Get that ‘spring cleaning’ done on the weekend. Going to the office on the weekend will allow you the couple of precious hours to actually clean up the mess. Not only will it help you focus and work better, but it will be pretty satisfying to finally cross it off the list.
After that, just make sure to maintain the cleanliness!
Read Next: How Do You Organize Project Documentation? A Few Must-Know Methods
5. There’s A Big Deadline Looming
Last, but certainly not least – there’s a big deadline approaching. In a perfect world, we shouldn’t ever have to sacrifice our weekend time to keep up with our work. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world! Deadlines are required sometimes and a huge push to hit it will probably be necessary.
In this instance, it really comes down to the type of deadline you’re up against. If the company is poorly run and they’re asking employees to pick up the slack, no – don’t do it. A company that would fire you for such a thing is a company not worth working at.
If you’re about to complete a massive project or make a big presentation, the extra hours will not only help the end result come out better, but also boost your reputation. With this will most likely come raises, promotions and other things you’ll personally benefit from.
If you have a huge deadline coming up and you need some extra time, going to the office on the weekend isn’t the worst thing that could happen. As said earlier, we don’t insist on going to the office to do this – if you can work at home, even better.
Read Next: Working At A Large Company Vs. Small Company: The Pros & Cons
Going To The Office On The Weekend: In Summary
Nobody likes working on the weekends. Going to the office on the weekend can feel like a prison sentence. While we certainly can relate to this feeling, there are a few situations that benefit greatly from a little weekend work. When thinking of the big picture, a few hours of work on the weekend may improve your work and life as a whole. I hope this article has been helpful – thanks a lot for reading!
