Don’t let the weekend get away from you

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Welcome to the weekend, buds. Hope you're staying warm on this wonderful Saturday — a lot of the coldest temperatures recorded in every state happened during January. 

Speaking of weekends, I chatted with some time-management experts about how to get the most from your weekends. That's today's big story.

What's on deck: 

• Travel: A three-day Amtrak trip with a service dog.
• Careers: Laid off, fired, or promoted suddenly? Here's how to respond.
• Life: Dermatologists debunked 10 common myths about washing your face.

But first, what're you up to this weekend?

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The big story

Don't let the weekend get away from you

Weekends seem like such a simple concept — two days away from work. But most people aren't feeling refreshed or rested after their days off.

"People are so tired from the week that they get to the weekend and they think they want to do nothing," Laura Vanderkam, the author of "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think," told me.

"The problem is, it's impossible to do nothing — you'll do something. But it might not be nearly as rejuvenating as if you put a tiny bit of thought into it," she added.

So time-management experts shared how to prevent that from happening to you.

Plan "anchor events" for your weekend

Vanderkam defined an anchor event as something you want to do during the weekend — any activity that's loosely planned ahead of time. She recommends having three to five of them over the course of a weekend.

And Vanderkam has a general formula of three activity categories that lead to people feeling they had a good weekend: socializing, physical activity, and a spiritual activity (when you feel part of something bigger than yourself).

"If you think of choosing one thing from each of those categories and putting it somewhere in the weekend, you will probably hit Monday feeling like, 'Oh yeah, that was good.'"

Time-bound your responsibilities — and your free time

Vanderkam said there are 36 waking hours between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Monday. So there's a lot of time to balance responsibilities and time for yourself.

She recommends thinking of the weekend in five chunks: Friday night, Saturday day, Saturday night, Sunday day, Sunday night. This can help you time and plan weekend activities and responsibilities.

Time-management coach Alexis Haselberger told me that a lot of her clients struggle with relaxation and putting work down.

This can be worsened when you schedule an unrealistic responsibility load into your weekend. The outstanding tasks in the back of your mind can make you feel like you didn't have a weekend — and makes you feel bad for not completing it.

She recommended making a manageable to-do list and blocking time off to complete the tasks. People can experiment with balancing responsibilities and free time, she said, since creating a fulfilling weekend is so individualized and requires work.

Plus, Vanderkam said if you do finish all your tasks — don't go looking for new ones to do.

Try something new

You're not really creating new memories while binging Netflix, scrolling TikTok, or chilling around your home. So this can make it feel like you did nothing over the weekend, Haselberger said.

She told me that people often think doing these activities will help you decompress from the week — "and it does in the moment, but then it doesn't. And then we're scrambling to do all of the things."

Haselberger recommends that people ask themselves: What can you do on the weekend that is outside of something that you would normally do to make the weekend feel like it was a prolonged period of time?

3 things in travel

1. How to visit national parks for free — or really cheap — this year. Some of them are always free. Meanwhile, others have select, fee-free days. You can also waive national park entrance fees with the $80 America the Beautiful annual pass.
2. How the A-12 went from being the first US supersonic spy plane to inspiring the name of Elon Musk's child. The iconic aircraft was retired after just one year, since its successor was already in development. Despite its short life, the A-12 cast a long legacy.
3. "I took a three-day Amtrak trip with my service dog for $2,000." The train trip from Delaware to California saved him from the headache of air travel. Amtrak and its attendants were accommodating to his service dog Oliver. Plus they saw stunning views throughout the journey.

3 things in careers

1. Your boss is probably doing your one-on-one wrong. Sometimes bosses talk too much —  maybe workers aren't ready to lead the conversation, or perhaps the personal aspect is missing. Either way, conducting this meeting wrong can negatively impact a worker's engagement, productivity, and overall happiness.
2. How to respond when you suddenly get laid off, fired, or promoted at work. People should pause when they receive unexpected career news. And then ask yourself three questions: What? So what? And now what?
3. Help wanted: It's getting harder to find a six-figure job that's hybrid or remote. Hybrid, six-figure roles fell by 69% the last quarter, while remote roles fell by 12%. But high-paying, in-person jobs rose 93% in that same time period.

3 things in life

1. The first space photo from the US's moon-lander mission is a clear sign something is very wrong. After launching, the Peregrine Mission One lunar lander started leaking fuel. It's the first US-built lunar lander since the days of Apollo.
2. You're probably washing your face wrong. Dermatologists debunked 10 common myths about washing your face. For example, washing your face with soap and water likely won't suffice for your cleansing routine.
3. Millennial parents are being blamed for "iPad kids" being obsessed with luxury skincare. A lot of Gen Alpha — a group predominantly under 13 years old — is still in elementary school. But they already have a reputation of being interested in expensive beauty and skincare products.

In other news

• How a culture of sports betting and fantasy gaming is emerging on college campuses.
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• The 25 top companies to work for, according to Glassdoor.
• The four types of emotionally immature parents, from passive to reactive.
• A passenger boarded a Boeing 777, then opened a door and fell out of the plane.
• I vacationed on one of the world's largest cruise ships and learned that drink packages aren't worth the hype.
• The internet's most eccentric chef, Barfly7777, has cooked steak in a toilet and garlic shrimp in an airplane sink.
• 15 surprising expensive items you can buy at Costco.
• I'm Gen X, and my husband is a millennial. We parent very differently.

For your bookmarks

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How this Chipotle fan still got his fix while losing 20 pounds in eight weeks. He had to give up his favorite meaty burrito. But he lowered his cholesterol in the meantime.

The Insider Today Saturday team: Diamond Naga Siu, senior reporter, in San Diego. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hayley Hudson, director, in Edinburgh. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.