“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
Writer Annie Dillard said that, in an essay on presence over productivity. John Lennon echoes a similar idea with his timeless quote, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”
The point is that our time on this earth is precious and limited. And lately doesn’t it feel like all our nifty time-saving technology is actually doing just the opposite? If every second counts how can we milk more life from each day, where is the loophole in the crazy time-whirlpool?
The answer is literally right there in front of us, nestled perfectly between Sunday and Saturday: if you want more time to enjoy yourself become a Weekday Warrior.
Most of the western world is set up on the same schedule: Monday to Friday, 9-5, weekends off. This is why grocery shopping is busy on Sundays, Friday restaurant reservations are harder to get and movie theatres get crowded for those Saturday afternoon matinees. Everyone’s shuffling around on the same schedule; so why not step off the treadmill? Become a Weekday Warrior and work while everyone plays so you can play while everyone else works.
It requires some workplace juggling to pull off but Whistler locals have been on this program for decades and there’s nothing better than a massive Tuesday morning pow day with lots of parking at the ski hill and a high-percentage of buddies in the lift line. There’s a certain life-affirming joy that comes with hitting that perfect fireside table at après because the masses are all at work. Whistler was built to handle huge events, big holidays and busy weekend pilgrimages to the mountains but all the same ski lifts run on weekdays, and all the shops, bars and restaurants are open too. With no shortage of mid-week events to check out, Whistler Weekday Warriors get the space they need to really let loose without missing any of the fun.
While it is easy to institute on a vacation time frame, full commitment to the Weekday Warrior lifestyle requires a bit of career juggling, it has huge crossover benefits in everyday life too. You fight less traffic, stand in shorter lines, and generally have more of life’s precious moments to savour.
Of course, this hack is to commit to full time if you have school-aged children (having said that: 30 cm Rule!!!) but for everyone else: ditch the weekend, beat the system and enjoy the loophole. Life as Weekday Warrior isn’t that outlandish, it just gives you little more room to breathe.
Whistler.com can help make it even easier to test this theory with a mid-week vacation in the mountains. Come get some!