How I Prepare for a New Week
How I Prepare for a New Week – Thirty-Something Angie
How I Prepare for a New Week
As a stay at home/work at home mom, my weeks consist of a lot of chaos. I’m sure any mom can relate, really, whether you stay home exclusively, work at home, or work outside the home. No matter how you look at it, every week is a juggling act. I’ve learned to use Sunday afternoons to prepare for a new week. This way, I don’t feel overwhelmed come Monday morning. It’s a great way to set yourself up for success for the coming week.
Check out my weekend routine below! Be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you can get a free digital download of my weekend checklist to help you prepare for a new week, too!
I see meal planning on most blog posts that talk about saving time, and there’s a really great reason for it. Planning my meals takes a lot of the guess-work out of my evenings. When I know what I’m cooking all week long, I can arrange my meals according to my schedule.
For example, on Wednesdays, we don’t get home from cheer practice until almost 7 pm. I know that I need to fix a meal in the Instant Pot on those days, since they are quick. In the same way, I know I can cook a more involved meal on Friday, because we’ll be home all night. I’m more prepared when I meal plan, which means we spend less time and money each week eating out.
If you’re looking for meal-time inspiration, check out some of my favorite recipes
Meal Planning, The Struggle is Real!
For the longest time, I felt like I was just treading water. I could never get ahead! I’ve started keeping a list of goals, and it really helps me feel like I’m moving forward. I love writing down goals for each new week. These can consist of anything I feel I need to focus on at that time, like:
organizing my computer
weeding the garden
finishing a project
deep cleaning the house
cleaning out my car
You get the idea, here. Once I have this list, I can refer to it any time I’m not busy with kids and work, and pick something I may have time to accomplish. I won’t lie. I don’t always complete everything on my list. In fact, I frequently have to carry items over to a new week, because there just aren’t enough hours in the day! The important thing, though, is that I’m able to stay on task more easily when I have a list of goals written down.
How to Set Goals You’ll Actually Accomplish
Plan for Each New Week
I’m sure most moms can relate to the concept of having a lot to juggle each week. I’ve found that writing everything in a
makes a big difference. I can clearly see what I have coming up and when I can fit in my to-do list and weekly goals. By writing everything down in my planner, I have much fewer surprises. I personally prefer a paper planner, because I’m able to flip it open to the appropriate pages and easily see everything that is coming up.
My Inkwell Press planner is great for this, because the weekly pages even have a separate column for weekly goals. I love that I can keep it all in one place!
My 2017 Ringbound Planner Setup
Finish Your Housework
I know. I really do. We
hate housework. I hate it even more when it carries over into a new week, though, because then it means I have extra work to do! When I forget a load of laundry in the dryer, or skip mopping the floors one weekend, I feel like I’ve started a new week already behind. This means I have to work even harder to stay on top of things.
If I make a point of doing my housework on Sunday, I can get it done pretty quickly. This leaves the rest of the week to focus on work and school activities.
How to Make Organization an Intention Habit
This whole blog post has been about doing
things on the weekend, but I don’t want to overlook the benefit of
taking a good break
. That’s what the weekends are supposed to be for, right? It’s important to take some down time on the weekends. Not doing so can result in burn-out, which will leave you more unproductive than ever. Be sure to spend plenty of time with your family relaxing and enjoying yourself in between each of the tasks on this list. You’ll wake up Monday morning more refreshed and ready to start a new week.
Taking a break can help your productivity! Who knew?!
I Hope You’re Ready..
I feel so empowered when I can start my week off right by using these steps. By implementing this list of tasks on weekends, I wake up Monday morning one step ahead. I’m able to face Monday head-on and tackle my job and weekly chores when I’ve done the proper planning, goal setting, and housework ahead of time.
Are you ready to prepare for a new week? You can download my free weekend checklist below! This is the perfect list to print out and put in your planner each week!
PS: Did you love this post? You may enjoy these as well!
How I use My Inkwell Press Planner
The Importance of Taking Time to Refocus
Time Management Tips for Moms
My Experience with a Bullet Journal
My Small Business Organization System
How to Set Goals You’ll Actually Accomplish – With a Free Download!
How I Prepare for a New Week
These are all great tips! I was more organized as a young mom..now they are grown a nd Im blogging and having a horrible time of it..ha!
24th Oct, 2016 at 3:31pm
Hey Val! So glad you liked them! I agree, it is easy to slip into unorganized chaos. For so long, that’s where I LIVED! I’ve recently made the decision I can’t do that all the time, and it has been so nice re-organizing my life!
24th Oct, 2016 at 4:35pm
I do a lot of the same things! It really does help me feel better about the week. I have found resting or “take a breather” to be just as important as planning out the week.
24th Oct, 2016 at 5:23pm
It really makes such a difference! I notice on weeks that I don’t do all of this, I struggle to stay on top of things. Thank you for the comment!
24th Oct, 2016 at 10:05pm
Tons of great tips here. I have tried meal planning but it doesn’t always work. Especially with the type of crazy schedule that we have. But each week, I will buy from grocery items that are on sale.
26th Oct, 2016 at 1:40pm
Thanks Rosie! Meal planning can be tough, especially if you have a lot of evening activities (like we do). I have a few tips that can help on those nights:
1. On Sunday, cook a BIG batch of something that’ll last or freeze. Pull it out on nights that there is just not any time to cook.
2. Plan out some very quick meals that take almost no time. (We really like various proteins on top of big salads, for example).
