Do you go into Mondays dreading the week? Are you worn out before you get to the end of the day, let alone the end of the week? Do you struggle to juggle everything that needs to be done? Would you rather be super-organised and ready for anything but without spending loads of time planning and preparing? Check out this post on 7 things you should do on Sunday for a productive week ahead!
Here are my top 7 things you should do on Sunday for a productive week ahead
1. Check your diary for the week ahead
Check your calendar to see what’s happening during the coming week. You need to include everything that’s in both your personal and work diaries (and your partner’s) if they’re relevant.
Make sure that you know about everything that’s coming up so you don’t have any surprises!
This might include any of the following:
- Birthdays (so you can get presents or cards in advance rather than having to go to the shops especially).
- Doctor/dentist and any other appointments etc so you know to plan for childcare if you can. Or, if it’s for your kids, let the school, nursery or childminder know in plenty of time.
- After school clubs or activities so you can plan how you’re going to get child A to place Y and child B to place Z without forgetting about what you’re going to do with child C!
2. Meal plan and meal prep
Looking at your diary (above) will help you work out what meals you need to plan for, how long you’ve got to prepare and cook the meals and who’s going to be around to eat them.
Think about what snacks you’ll need if you’ve got kids who are out and about and need a snack in the car to keep them going.
Also think about what you’ll need for packed lunches for your kids (and anyone else who needs them) during the week.
Meal planning and meal prepping will make it much easier and quicker to know what’s for dinner each night.
Look at your shopping lists that you’ve updated during the week and order online for the food to be delivered to your door to save time and the stress of taking little kids around the supermarket!
If you need more help with meal planning and meal prep, then check out my post on how to simplify meal planning.
3. Get on top of the laundry
There are loads of routines that make it easier for you to keep the home running smoothly and cut down the amount of time that you have to spend looking after it. But of all the routines that I stick to on Sunday, this is definitely in my top 7.
Make sure that you’ve done as much laundry as your washing machine can handle and that the clean clothes are also ironed (if needed), folded and put away.
Don’t just leave the clean clothes in a pile and think you’re done! It’s so time-consuming trying to find matching socks or rummaging through a mound of clothes for the top you want to wear when it’s first thing in the morning and you’re already pushed for time.
Make sure the kids’ uniform is clean too.
All this will save you scrabbling around at the end of the day during the week to put on a wash (because you’ve got no clean clothes for the morning) whilst you’re also trying to juggle dinner, homework, after school clubs, bedtime routines and everything else.
Check out this post on how to set up routines that make your life easier and your home simpler to run.
4. Make sure everything is ready for school
This includes making sure that all the homework is done, school bags are packed, packed lunches are prepped, permission slips are signed and you’ve read all the letters and emails sent through from the school.
You’ll be ready for Monday morning and hopefully it will set a positive tone for the rest of your week!
5. Make a To Do list
We’ve all got things that we need to do during the week – errands to run, phone calls to make, people to see. Even if we’ve adopted a more Minimalist approach and simplified our lives and our time as much as we can, life still dictates that somewhere, sometime, we need to do things.
Take a moment to jot down all the things you need to do that week.
It doesn’t matter where, but just get the thoughts out of your head and on to a piece of paper. You could use the Notes on your phone, Trello (a great little app, check it out here at www.trello.com), even plain old pen and paper. Whatever works for you and that’s the easiest for you to update and you’re not likely to forget or lose.
Check out this post on 5 ways I use my iPhone to organise my life for some inspiration.
6. Spend some family time together
The rest of the week may be busy and sometimes things happen that we hadn’t planned on (good things as well as bad). This means that we’re not always able to be in the same place at the same time and quality family time just isn’t possible.
Make a point to spend some time together on a Sunday, even if it’s just over the Sunday roast or going out for a walk or a play in the park.
Then you know that even if the rest of the week is busy, you’ve still been able to get some family time in on the Sunday.
7. Practice a bit of self care
You know I’m a great advocate of the benefits of self care for busy Mums and I firmly believe that we need to look after ourselves, so we can carry on looking after others.
Dedicate a bit of time on Sunday to doing something for you.
Even if it’s an early-ish night so at least you get a good night’s sleep ready for Monday morning.
Or, maybe go out with the kids for a long walk. The kids can go on the bikes, scooters or kick a football around. It may not be your ideal way of getting a bit of ‘looking after you’ time (think of a weekend spa break) but you’ll get some exercise in the fresh air, your kids will wear themselves out and you can just enjoy getting a change of scene from the four walls of your home (or office).
If you need some ideas then check out my post on 5 essential daily self care practices for the busy mum.
These are my top 7 tips for a productive Sunday that gives you a head start on the week. Give them a go and let me know if they help!
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