Well, after my post yesterday, where I blasted the current weekend system as the most unproductive social invention, here are some tips to make these weekends slightly more productive:

• Plan them ahead of schedule. I usually try to plan my weekends from the beginning of the week so that I'm  fairly booked come the weekend. When people think of planning the weekend, they think of major projects or trips, but I'm saying that we should try to plan for the weekend even if you haven't got anything grande: plan when you'll do your laundry, plan your sleep and relaxation, plan time for recreational activities for your children, especially those that bring the whole family together (On the last point, remember Prophet Muhammad and how he used to go racing with Ayesha, how many families do that nowadays. I remember a brother who every week used to book a badminton court and play with his children and wife. Nowadays, even though the children are all grown up, they still keep to this weekly family ritual).
• Use weekends as a learning opportunity: You'd be amazed at the number of high-quality Islamic educational courses being organised during weekends. These range from Islamic law, Islamic finance, seerah courses, or tajweed courses. Scour the internet for some of these courses, and try to attend at least one of them every month or two, they'll truly be beneficial for you and your family. Also, you don't have to stick to only Islamic courses: take courses in anything that might benefit you, e.g. creative writing, critical thinking, cooking, arabic calligraphy..etc. If you can't find a course, contact an expert in the field and see if they'll be willing to teach you on a one-to-one basis.  
• Schedule time for the Community/Neighbour: Let the weekends be our time to give back to the community, whether that's running a Quran tahfeedh for children, or a dawah activity. Also, those of us living in the west, how many of us know our neighbours? Why can't we schedule some "tea-time" with our neighbours? We'll be performing our religious duty of maintaing good ties with neighbours and perhaps be a unique dawah opportunity.
• Adventure! Adventure! Adventure!: Whether it's a long walk in the English country-side, or visiting another city across your country's border. These mini vacations can have the same profound effect on you and family as a major vacation, and they cost-less!! (Also, it helps drive some spontaneity into family life: imagine, coming home one day and saying: Honey, I booked a trip to Istanbul, let's start packing!)

*cough* *cough* sorry, with a bad flu past few days, so running dry with ideas pretty quickly. Let me know what your thoughts are though, happy to read them in the comments. (Also, any of you know of good natural herbs to fight cold? I've lost hope in tablets).