Before saying yes to weekend work, confirm the Monday deadline and whether it's truly your top priority. Often your manager is anxious, not desperate. Show them a concrete plan to hit the deadline during regular hours and you can usually skip the weekend.
If your boss tells you Friday afternoon that you need to work all weekend to hit that big deadline, they might not actually need your weekend. What they need is certainty that Monday's deadline is safe. So if they say, I need you to work this weekend, the proposal is due Monday at noon, don't automatically say yes. Instead, say, I hear you. This Monday noon deadline is mission critical. Then ask, relative to my other to-dos, is this number one? If it is, then you say, let me arrange everything else and map out exactly what needs to happen by Monday at noon. If they still insist, say, listen, before I commit, let's look at where the proposal stands and map out how we'll finish it by Monday. Weekend work may just be your boss's first solution to deadline anxiety. So solve the anxiety first. Show them exactly how Monday becomes safe before you hand over your Saturday and Sunday.
