One thing I have learned from all of you listeners is that you love productivity hacks, systems, and insider scoops on what I'm doing to be more productive and purposeful with my time. So that’s exactly what I’ve got for you in this short, sweet, and honestly… very productive episode! I’m walking you through some simple things — both personal life and business things that I do every Sunday to help me prepare for the week ahead to be productive, purposeful, and peaceful! This episode isn’t just for business owners, so if you work a 9 to 5, are a stay-at-home mom, or a student, you totally can gain something here too!
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Planning and preparing for the week ahead of time has become really important to me because I don’t like going into Monday feeling flustered and behind. That has happened to me plenty of times, especially if Sunday I was traveling or something out of the ordinary happened like hosting family or something.
I like to go into Monday feeling ahead if anything, and at the least, not at all behind.
And that takes Sunday having some things on the agenda to get me there. Now, this isn’t ALL that I do on Sunday, just some of the things that help the week start smoothly.
Groceries
First up, I order groceries on Saturday to either be delivered on Saturday or on Sunday morning. I use Instacart for this, which means I don’t have to go to the grocery store, not even to pick it up, the groceries are brought all the way up to my front door.
I like to order on Saturday now because that way I know they will get to me within the time I want them here. This is one step I usually do on Saturday as well as planning meals ahead for the week.
Meal Prep
Once my groceries arrive on Sunday morning after church, I meal prep for the week! Typically I make one crockpot meal and one non-crockpot meal for the week. Sometimes I will also prep something else too, like a quiche. I like to do all of these on Sunday afternoon because I get my kitchen dirty once but got two meals done and a snack done. Yay!
This looks different each week depending on what we are cooking that week. But it feels awesome going into Monday with a fridge that is ready to go. It helps me to prepare for the week ahead and already has meal ideas for that week with some prepped food. This also feels like less pressure to “cook a meal” every day after work.
House Maintenance
NEXT UP in my routine of preparing for the week ahead is home care! I always do laundry on Sundays, and then fold the laundry and anything that didn’t get folded before. I love this because going into the week with fresh laundry is great!
We also straighten our whole house and vacuum the floors. Adam is really the one who does this on Sundays, which I’m grateful for. This week, he vacuumed every room, put away anything that was left lying around, loaded and ran the dishwasher, and wiped down the counters. This is just simple maintenance of the home and it usually only takes 30 minutes!
I also like to clean my office on Sundays so that when I come in on Monday for work, it’s actually straight. I am a little bit of a messy person, so my desk can get wild by the end of the week!
Workout
On Sundays, I usually do something active that is abnormal from my typical workouts. I like to choose something that feels really fun that I can take more time to do.
That might be going for a walk with a friend in the park, walking on the treadmill at our gym on an incline while I watch the latest episode of SVU, or maybe a deep yoga stretch session. I have a lot, of options but I leave Sundays as an “open day” for workouts but still like to do something active. It feels good going into Monday having already worked out once.
Work Prep
Planning my work week
First, I plan my week. This is HUGE for how I prepare for the week ahead. I look at what’s on the calendar already and then I start to add to it.
I have done an episode on this already, it’s one of the most popular on the show! [Listen here on how I plan my whole week in my digital calendar.]
I always do this on Sundays, not Mondays if I can help it, end of the afternoon.
Be sure to listen to the full episode on how I do this but basically, I’m mapping out the week with my meetings, priorities, and todos that need to be accomplished.
I fill out my Full Focus Planner and my digital calendar. I love this planner! It’s a quarterly system planner that is one book per quarter. It is very extensive but I love it and it works really well for me! I do a weekly review and set goals for the week in there. Get $10 off your first Full Focus Planner here!
Inbox
Another work thing I do to prepare for the week ahead is to go through my inbox and reply to some messages that came in over the weekend. I schedule them to go out Monday morning. I like doing this because then I don’t have to start my Monday in the inbox stressed out about what all is in there.
I am not the main “manager” of the inbox at my company anymore, but I do still get plenty of emails that come only to me or that come to our main inbox that are still important for me to deal with and I don’t like to start my Monday morning with those emails.
Side Hustle
I also process any Etsy orders that came in over the weekend.
My sweet little Etsy shop side hustle is such a joy! But it’s just that, a side hustle, so I like being able to deal with it on weekends as much as possible, especially in my slow seasons like right now!
Those are all the main things I do to prepare for the week ahead! By the end of it all, when Monday comes I feel prepared. I have a clean house, food ready to rock, and know exactly what is on my agenda. Plus, I’ve already accomplished some stuff - like the inbox!
