Weekends.

According to research, 30% of people claim they are different people on the weekends. Begs the question, who are they during the week and how come the other 70% don't change? What is it about a weekend that has the ability to transform us? What is it about a weekend that promises so much but often becomes the swamp of good ideas, sunk as we wallow in the mire of discontent where two days is never enough? We often talk about the pressures involved in the so called normal working environment where 24/365 contact-ability, no off switch, no finish line or even lunches as we knew them has many primed for a melt down. Mondays to Fridays, are days filled to the brim where we have compromised away the little free time left, into a concentrated block of time that has more affiliations with the industrial revolution than the technology revolution supposed to free us of all the mundane tasks.

So the pressure on the weekend to outperform the other five days, often finds us looking to fit in extra hours that aren't there, running ourselves ragged doing chores that have backed up and generally dreading Sunday night as we get ready for Monday morning. That seems to be the way of the 70% that don't change but what about the mad 30% who claim they are more spontaneous, impulsive, imaginative, creative and agreeable? Have they discovered something special that makes them more fun to be around, have they worked out stress levels on weekends are four times less than the morbid Monday blues? They even seem to know they are more productive than during the week and somewhere in there, they are 55% more likely to travel on a weekend than the rest of the population.

Conforming to the researchers, the earmark of the 30% of people not being themselves, is about being less organised, less neurotic and less competitive than during the work week. To such an extent that some respondents claim avoiding a shower all weekend, avoiding people all weekend and not getting out of their pyjamas all weekend, helps them to regain their sanity compass. Along with all the things we did everyday, in younger days, like staying out late, watching too much TV, eating whatever we want, eating out every meal or not doing anything at all, are at the heartland of the wild and crazy 30%.

Too often, research shows our inability to turn off our work day cycle, rewards us with weekends as blurred segues between Friday and Monday. The work ethic applied to being breadwinners from Monday to Friday is sometimes parked at the local on our way home Friday evenings. The skill set used for promotion, success and accomplishments is diluted by the end of the week and it seems 70% of people have nothing left for themselves by the time Saturday morning comes around.

Seems the enthusiastically deranged 30% don't stop working, even on a weekend. They are just working on themselves or whoever else they want to be.