Looking to be more productive throughout the week? These nine simple steps to planning your week will increase your productivity and boost your success!
Ever find yourself coming off of the weekend and starting to feel stressed about the week ahead? Experiencing the Sunday-scaries if you will? I’m sure we can all relate. Whether you are planning the week for your family or just yourself, it is common for people to feel overwhelmed with the week ahead not knowing how to combat those feelings.
I believe the key to a productive week starts with a plan (shocker, I know). As you’ll notice in my other posts, I am a firm believer that our thoughts can be an obstacle for achieving various things in life. A lot of the tools I use for planning my week can be found in my post “5 Best Organization Solutions You Can Get on Amazon”.
These nine steps are designed to help you get your thoughts out on paper (which we love) and set your self up for success.
This post is all about planning your week!
1. Plan Your Week on Sunday
We are going to work on changing your mindset about Sundays. Yes – they can be scary and daunting, but by the end of this post, I hope you start to look forward to them! Instead of always thinking “oh gosh it’s Sunday again, which means Monday is quickly approaching” I hope you will start to look forward to how Sunday can work in your favor.
Once I started implementing these steps into my Sunday routine, I started thinking “I can’t wait to start a new week!” I looked forward to getting my thoughts down on paper and having a roadmap for the week. It also allowed me to start Monday with far less stress than before because I wasn’t caught up in my thoughts.
The theme you will see throughout this post is intention. When we are intentionally with our time, we tend to feel more accomplished overall. The following steps will help you start your week on the right foot.
2. Get Your Thoughts Down
First things first. In order to get out of your head about the potentially overwhelming or daunting week ahead, start by writing down everything you need or want to accomplish for the week. And I mean everything. This is where you can be overly optimistic with what you may want to achieve.
Think of it as a brain dump if you will. Literally any task, goal, you name it, write it down. Later on you can go back and really hone in on what your priorities are, but for now, focus on clearing your mind. I can almost guarantee you will start to feel some tension release.
3. Appointments & Tasks
If you haven’t already, make sure you are aware of any appointments or tasks that are an absolute must for the week. These are your non-negotiables. By starting with the tasks that have no flexibility, you start to build the schedule that you can work around for other areas in your week.
Some examples would be doctors appoints, meetings, going to the grocery store, etc. Anything that you frankly don’t have a choice about.
4. Large Goal Check In
Now that you have everything down on paper, you can check in with yourself. Revisit any larger goals you set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year, or goals you are consistently working towards. If there is anything on your list that doesn’t align with those goals, think about whether or not those tasks make sense to have in your week.
When I mentioned intention before, this is what I meant. By being intentional with your time, you are bound to look back at your week and feel more accomplished than if you spent your time on things that don’t serve you.
5. Number Tasks Based on Priority
Once you have decided what stays and what goes, you can back through your list and highlight items based on priority. And this will look different for everyone! You can use the larger goals mentioned above as a guideline for this.
If getting your home organized was a larger goal you set for yourself this year, highlight any tasks that can help you work towards that goal. If you set out to be more fiscally responsible, make sure you highlight any budgeting tasks.
Tackling the larger or more important tasks first will release the pressure earlier on in the week. That way you are less stressed by the end of the week as your weekend is approaching.
6. Plan Your Meals & Workouts
Planning your meals and workouts can be extremely helpful when it comes to sticking to larger wellness goals if you have them. I know for me personally, when I have a really busy week, these are sometimes the things that fall to the wayside first. By prioritizing them, or by treating them as more of an appointment than a task, you are more likely to stick to them!
Planning your meals and workouts on a Sunday gives you time to really consider what you want your days to look like. It also takes the day-of guessing out of the equation.
7. Plan Time For Yourself
Okay this one should really be considered a non-negotiable.
It is extremely easy to forget about the importance of self care when you have a busy week. I’m sure most of us can relate to that feeling. It is far too easy to get burnt out when you are constantly prioritizing other are aspects of your life.
By treating “me time” like an appointment, you are more likely to stick with it. It is impossible to be the best version of yourself if you are not taking care of yourself. And self care will look different to every individual.
You can start by writing down the things that make you happy! Whether it is going for a walk and listening to your favorite podcast or audio book or crushing a few episodes of your favorite Netflix show, it is important to schedule time to relax.
8. Be Realistic
This step is where you can really pare down your list. Take a look at everything you have listed up until this point. You should have already highlighted what the absolute musts are. It is important that you are realistic when planning your week so that you are not setting the bar too high.
If you try to accomplish too much at once, you may not get to everything which could lead to disappointment. The goal here is to really think about what you are capable of accomplishing. Then test it out! This schedule is not going to be perfect every time. Each week you can make whatever tweaks are necessary.
Once you get a good routine of what you want your week to look like, it will take less and less time to plan!
9. Get to It
Now you are ready to get to it! I always like to get a good night sleep on Sunday nights so that I am ready to take on the week I just planned. Rest is so important.
Remember to refer to this plan multiple times throughout the week. Constantly assessing where you are at will help you realize if there are any adjustments you need to make. It is also super satisfying to check things off as you accomplish them.
As I mentioned above, not everything on this list is set in stone. If there is something that no longer makes sense for your week, move it to the next one! You can decide what can be fluid and what you want to stick to.
Remember, 21 days to make something a habit. Once you are in the groove of scheduling, it is going to come much easier to you. Best of luck!
Benefits of Planning Your Week
- Starting the week off with all of your non-negotiables written down
- A brainstorming session for setting goals of what you want to accomplish that week
- Checking in to see if your week aligns with the larger goals you have set out for
- A roadmap for each day so you aren’t left guessing
- Schedule self care time so you don’t burn out
- A realistic plan that you are more likely to stick to
- A healthy week planned around meals and exercise
- A list of tasks in order of importance/priority
You now have all of the tools necessary for planning an organized and hopefully successful week! Remember, the goal of this plan is to eliminate as much stress as possible. If you are feeling overwhelmed, start slow! There is no right or wrong way to plan, these are simply tried and true steps that have been proven to work for a lot of people.
This post is best for those that are looking to get organized and be intentional with their time. If you are a goal setter but are struggling to stay consistent give these steps a try.
The planner below is an example of a tool you can use when planning your week. Let me know if you try any of the resources in this post and enjoy them!
This post is all about weekly planning!
