A little bit of preparation goes a long way, and none more so than when Sunday comes around.
I like to have much of the work done for the week before it even starts, because I know that once Monday morning starts, daily busy-ness will ensue, and I will be chasing my proverbial tail all week if I’m not careful.
..and all that leads to is becoming stressed and tired just in time for the weekend – where the whole thing starts again.
So – here are the things to do every Sunday that are worth adding to your diary too – let’s get ahead of the week, shall we?!
But I don’t want my weekends full of stuff to do!
Weekends don’t have to be filled with jobs – in fact, the more organised you are, the less jobs you’ll actually have to do.
Having a few things in place on Sunday will make your week go oh so smoothly.
Things To Do Every Sunday – Let’s Go!
Let’s get started and let’s make your weeks much easier!
#1 – Check Your Diary
Hands down this is THE most important thing to do.
Go through your diary and check what next week looks like.
TIP – I love to use a week to view diary as it makes things much easier when you’re scanning each week.
- Check all your scheduled stuff, and check that nothing is double booked.
- Add in any travel time and prep time needed for each scheduled item
- Go through your TO DO list and add in anything that is a priority for the week that you need to get done.
- Do a quick check through of the next few weeks in your diary and monthly planner if you have one for all family related on off events and reminders. This will help you to be aware of things that are coming up so you can be ready in plenty of time. Things like buying present and cards, filling in forms or paying for a school event etc… can all be added.
- It’s also worth checking your email inbox to see if you have anything outstanding that needs to be taken care of – these may also need to be added to your diary…
Filling them in at the start of the week will mean that you will become much more likely to do them rather than try and do things as and when you have time (note – you will never have time!).
Don’t forget to think carefully about what you are scheduling in – and make sure that what you’re planning is actually possible, or are you setting yourself up for a fall…
Remember to allow yourself a little down time each day, and to fit in exercise etc… – when you look at your diary ahead of time you can see things much more clearly and so you are much more likely to create a better week than if you tried to do what you can when you can do it.
#2 – Sort Meals For The Week
This can mean different things for different people, depending on how you prefer to live: –
- Batch cook and freeze all evening meals for the week
- Plan what you will eat based on what you have in the cupboards
- Do a weekly shop for what you need for the week ahead (or sort out an online shop to arrive when convenient to you to save time)
You may do a bit of everything, or just one of these things – but the key is that you have put a little thought into what you will eat and when.
This will help you every day as you can simply prepare what you have planned without thinking, and you will know that you have everything in the kitchen to create that meal.
#3 – Sort Clothes For the Week
If you give a little thought to what you are doing each day (check the weather forecast as well if that will help you decide!), then you can simply get up and grab what you are wearing without having to worry about something not being clean/ironed etc….
This is a great time to sort your clothes as you will have also checked your diary and therefore know exactly what’s happening throughout the week. (If you have smaller children then you should also sort their clothes as well).
Simply get 5 (or 7) empty hangers and put them in one place in your wardrobe. Add to each hanger what you want to wear on that day (for kids you could even label the hangers with the day of the week).
TIP – think about every type of clothing you need – including work / exercise / social etc….
You may already have the evening habit in place of sorting clothes for the next day – but doing as much as you can on a Sunday means you still have time to do a load of washing/get to the dry cleaners etc…. if needed, without a mid-week panic!
#4 – Sort “Stuff” For The Week
The very technical category of “Stuff” (!) means anything that you need to have during the week ahead.
Things like: –
- Birthday cards / Presents ready to be posted
- Musical instrument ready to go to school one day
- Anything needed by the children for school (money / letters / snacks etc…)
- Spare change in the car for car parks you know you are going to need
- Specific paperwork required on certain days
- You will be near the dry cleaners and so you can pack dry cleaning ready in your car
- Seeing a friend and need to give them something back that you borrowed
If you have everything ready to go then you will have a much less stressful week!
#5 – Look After Your Home
Do the simple jobs around the house that are time sensitive – for example: –
- empty all your bins and recycling ready for the bin men in the week (last minute dashes do nothing to keep you calm!)
- change all bedding ready for the week ahead (wash if you have time)
- change all towels
- do a 15 minute tidy up with the rest of your household to put everything back (nothing is more distracting than seeing other jobs that need doing on a Monday morning)
Doing a few chores ahead of time means that you can wake up on Monday morning and just have to concentrate on that day rather than try and catch up before the day has even begun.
#6 – Look After Yourself
It’s not all jobs! – take some time to do something that you enjoy, something that relaxes you.
The rest of the week is likely to be a rush of appointments / work / kids etc… – so take a bit of time (even 10 minutes with a coffee can be enough) – and do something that makes you smile.
Also – go to bed at a decent time – being fully rested (as much as possible) will ensure that Monday starts off as well as it can!).
So there you have it – all the key things to do every Sunday to make the following week easier.
The beauty of doing as much as you can for the entire week up front is that you get the benefits of batching jobs.
If you had to sort out from scratch at the end of each day for the next day then you would spend a lot more time over the course of the week than if you do it on one go, as you are thinking about 7 days in one go.
Yes, you will want to double check each evening, but the thinking and prep will have been done already.
Read Next: 3 Things To Do At The End Of The Month To Stay Organised
