How to Use Your Sunday to Start the Week Off Great
Taking a little time on Sunday to prepare for your week ahead can make all the difference in your success.
Planning ahead is the key. Look at your calendar for the week to get a feel for how busy you will be. Kind of big picture thinking. How can you prepare for the coming days on Sunday? Here are some ideas that, if done, can make your week run more smoothly.
Plan Meals.
What’s for dinner? You know that you have to eat. Check your calendar. What days will you be home to prepare a meal? How much time will you have? You’ll save a lot of money and calories by eating meals at home and a lot of meals don’t take much more time than getting take out or eating out.
Shop for Groceries.
Once you plan your meals it’s time to go grocery shopping. Make a list, so you won’t have to run out again during the week. You’ll be more likely to cook if you have everything you need.
Clean Your House.
I don’t mean everything. Weekends are for relaxing. But, get a little done. Wipe up the kitchen and bathrooms, and run and empty the dishwasher. Vacuum and sweep the floors. There, don’t you feel better?
Do Laundry.
Knowing that you have clean clothes for the week will reduce stress and make getting out of the house in the morning much easier. Don’t have time to do it all in one day. Delegate this task to someone else in the house. Share the wealth!
Plan Your Outfits.
Now that your laundry is clean, you can plan what you are going to wear each day. This is an awesome activity for your kids too. It gives them the opportunity to make decisions for themselves without the pressure of the morning rush.
Clean Out Your Bag.
Whether you carry a purse, a backpack, or a duffel bag, prep for next week by cleaning out what you don’t need (coupons, used tissues, old receipts, etc.) to be ready for the coming days. Why carry more than you need? Cleaning out will also help you locate what’s needed in your bag since it won’t have clutter.
Prep Your Paperwork.
Throughout the previous week, you have accumulated mail, bills, reading material, etc. Take a few minutes to process the paper. Put away or trash the items that you are done with and act on the rest. Mark, your calendar with anything that needs a reminder. You’ll feel so much more prepared when the paperwork is done.
Taking a little time on Sunday to prepare for your week ahead can make all the difference in your success. Click To Tweet
All of these steps are a lot to do on your day off – Sunday – so find one or two that you can do on other days. Consistently doing them will make your whole week run more smoothly.
For more information on this subject check out some of our other posts.
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
I would absolutely hate having to do all those tasks on Sunday, but I do nearly everything you listed on set days throughout the week. Since I work at home, I don’t need to plan outfits or clean out my bag regularly.
I spread these out over the weekend, going most on Sunday. Since we are empty-nesters now it’s a lot easier to prep for the coming week. Less planning, less shopping, less laundry and less cleaning.
Great tips, Janet! Thank you!
Thanks Kristin.
Great tips! I found that preparing for the week and doing these tasks on a Sunday afternoon gives me clarity in the direction I need to go on Monday morning without feeling overwhelmed. Thanks for sharing these tips for a more peaceful week.
I love to hit the ground running on Monday morning too. It takes only a little planning on Sunday afternoon.
Sunday is a big day for laundry in our house. Even if we’re heading out, we start the laundry.
I also like to use Sunday to put things away that have been left out. It is a cleanup day for us, especially while we’re indoors so much.
These are great ideas for anyone who needs a solid routine!
The routine is so important. I have changed my laundry routine over the years, to work with whatever stage of life I was in. Now that my kids are grown, we all do our own laundry so I just do mine whenever it’s needed.
I so agree, Janet. Taking time on the weekend, whether it is Saturday or Sunday, to prep for the week ahead makes all the difference in the world. It totally takes the mystery out of things like what’s for dinner, do I have clean clothes, and are my bills up to date. Fabulous ideas!
Thanks Diane. I try to teach my clients to do the same. It is extremely effective.
Awesome! Right up my alley! I use my Sundays to prep for the week and it has served me well! Thanks for all the great tips
We think alike!
I try to give myself a true “Sabbath” on Sundays, but once the sun goes down, I’m usually thinking about the week ahead. It definitely helps to figure out what meals I’ll be preparing during the week, and to just sit and have a look at my calendar so I have a general idea what is coming up. It also helps to look at the family calendar, so everyone has a chance to talk about their commitments and we can identify any potential conflicts.
It helps me sleep if I feel that I am prepared for the next day or the coming week. When our kids were young we used a large laminated calendar that lived on the side of the refrigerator. Everyone wrote their commitments on it. It made it easier for me to plan meals and activities for the whole family. It also communicated activities to the whole family.
It does feel good to do some prep on Sunday to be Monday-ready. We eat a lot of raw vegetables and salads. So having the veggies cut and prepped in advance makes meal prep much easier. My husband and I spent some time last night chopping and prepping for the week as we prepared dinner. I love to do (not just on Sunday, but each evening) to clear my desk, fold the sofa blanket, and fluff the sofa pillows. I guess that’s part of the “house cleaning” or getting things back to square one. It makes the day or week go much more smoothly when things begin in a ready-to-go way.
I do the same meal prep. We shop on Sunday morning and prep for the week’s meals as soon as we get things put away. I do also like to bake something then too, that we can enjoy all week long.
I do almost all of these things, but not always on Sundays. I clean out my workbag on Friday so that it (like my desk and brain) can be ready for the new week. I’m with you finding one day a week for your weekly set-up…for everything except the thing we most often see recommended — planning meals. How can you know on Sunday what you’ll want to eat on Thursday? I mean, unless the weather changes dramatically, it’s no biggie to plan your outfits, but I’ve never been able to wrap my mind around making a decision days in advance regarding what you want to eat. That’s a decision my cravings, not my intellect, makes. 😉
Julie, I started planning meals along with my grocery list many years ago when I worked around 4 people’s schedules. I decided on meals then focused on what we need to buy to prepare them. It was just a routine that worked for me.
Routines have been a lifesaver for me during covid. Like Janet B., I spread my chores out over the week but I so identify with that hit the ground running on Monday feeling – if only I could be sure which day is Monday anymore, lol.
Lucy. whatever works, right? I like the feeling I get on Sunday as I set myself up for my week. I call it puttering.
Sundays are my sacred days to prep for the week! Great tips!
Me too Ellen and it doesn’t take me too long since I have a process I follow.