Hands up if you’re looking forward to a long, leisurely bank holiday weekend with a whopping four days off work in the (forecast permitting) sunshine? Eating your own weight in chocolate eggs? Watching old movies on telly without nary a care in the world? 

Yes, we’re being serious; while it can be so tempting to overdo things and plan an ultimate overhaul of everything, it’s also the perfect opportunity to give yourself over to goblin mode and grant yourself the grace and time you need to rest and recharge. 

Scheduling time to relax may sound silly, but taking time to do the things which make you feel good and leave you feeling restored is the best way to ensure you make the most of your time off and end the Easter bank holiday feeling your best. Plus, there’s little more satisfying than an extra-long weekend spent pressing reset on our hectic daily lives.

So, how best to combine relaxing and resetting in a satisfying (yet healthy) way? We asked the experts. 

Avoid being busy for busyness’ sake 

Just because you’ve got some time off work, doesn’t mean you have to cram every waking hour with activities and meet-ups with friends. “Free yourself of the need to be busy and comparing yourself to others and what they are doing,” explains Jodie Cariss, founder of high street therapy platform Self Space. “Tune in to what you really need for your own replenishment. This might be resting, connecting to someone you love, going for a walk, enjoying silence or doing some partying.

“Just make sure that whatever you do, you do it for you and not because you feel you should be doing it.” 

Plot your downtime, too

Blocking out time for a restful afternoon, leisurely stroll or curling up with the latest Emily Henry romance might not sound obvious, but as productivity coach Clare Evans explains, “it’s just as important to plan our downtime as it is our work time.”

So in the same way that you’d schedule a catch-up with your manager or create a Google Calendar reminder for your reformer Pilates class, commit to switching off by making a schedule of exactly how you’re going to relax.

“If you know exactly how you want to spend your downtime, it will be easier to keep to it, rather than defaulting to checking emails or doing chores to pass the hours,” Evans says. 

“A lot of us definitely feel a compulsion to rush around, do things, go places and meet people when we have time off, but it’s important to embrace quiet periods too.”

Don’t try to fix everything in one weekend

A messy kitchen. At least four loads of washing. An entire friendship group you haven’t seen in weeks. Hours worth of life admin that needs catching up on. While it’s certainly tempting to use the bank holiday weekend to completely blitz every part of your life in order to get back ‘on track,’ Evans advises taking a pause – and not biting off more than we can chew.

“By all means have a reasonable list of things you want to get done or routines you want to implement to help you reset, but start small,” she says. “If you try to cram in a wine night, charity shop run, long gym session and start tinkering with the arrangement of your living room, you’ll end up overwhelmed and more burned out than ever. Pick one or two goals and force yourself to stick to them. There will be other weekends: you don’t have to get everything ticked off at once.”

Reward yourself

You’ve made it through almost four months of 2025 – and that’s something to celebrate. Why not use the Easter bank holiday as a chance to treat yourself to a much-needed pick-me-up?

“Celebrate your successes – even the micro-ones – and be your own hype person,” Cariss suggests. “Ask yourself, ‘What is the best reward I can give myself at the moment?’ 

“This doesn’t have to be chocolate, it could be a nice home-cooked meal, a chance to tidy a drawer, a long bath, a hug or to sit in the sun and reflect on your awesomeness.” 

Check-in with your future self 

Finally, before you dive into the weekend, try to think ahead to where you want to be come Tuesday morning.

“When Tuesday comes and we’re back to it, think about what you want to feel,” Cariss says. “Take some time to work out how you can cultivate that. You do have mastery over your time and what you do with it matters.” 

Images: Getty