For many, Sunday nights can be a bit of an anxious time as its the start of another week at work and a whole new to-do list. A new week where we have a to-do list as long as our arm and we don’t know where to start. Or the week’s where time just get’s away from us and we haven’t been able to tick even half of the jobs off come Friday. Well, this post is a guide to the things you must do on Sunday evenings to SMASH the coming week for this issue to be a thing of the past and for every week to be just as productive as the last.
Plan as much of your week as you can:
Sometimes it can all get a bit overwhelming. Appointments, work, self care, odd jobs around the house, seeing friends and family and many other commitments. Sometimes you may not not even know how you’re going to get it all done and fit it all in; there’s just never enough time in the day. What I like to do on a weekend (not necessarily on a Sunday) but, before the week even starts, is make a list. When you have so many things going through your head, it can feel so much less overwhelming when you write it down; and that’s before you’ve even started to do any of them. I recommend getting a planner as, depending on which one you get, each page or segment can be for different type of things. For example, I have the Mrs Hinch Planner and she has different sections, one called Fresh’n Up Friday, a Tadaa list and also My Weekly Hinch List. However, you can get some that are specifically for meal planning or appointments etc. Obviously a simple note pad, calendar or whiteboard will do the trick.
Write down that hair appointment you have, write down the important meeting you have at work or that you need to take something in, write down that you need to take your car for it’s MOT. It can even be small things like make lunch for work, plans meals for the week or, even things you wont forget but just need to fit in like changing your bed or taking the bins out. Getting it out into a list and spreading it over the set days of the week can narrow it down into smaller, more manageable, bite size amounts. I find this helps more as, you may be thinking of all the things you need to do and try and get as many things done in one evening as possible and leaving next to no time to unwind from the day; this can also mean that each job can take longer because you’re just not prepare and it creates more stress.
Do you have a busy weekend coming up at the end of the week or do you want a free day to yourself to get your hair or nails done or maybe you’re even going on holiday? clear that day or days of the things you would have to do then and what you would need to do prior, to make this possible. Then divvy out those things throughout the week; you may find it’s only one extra thing a day, if that, and you’ve free’d up a whole day, or even more.
We all have those odd jobs that won’t take 5 minutes to do and plan to do them on the days we’ve not got many other things on our to-do lists but if they are doable on the Monday, you may be able to completely free up another day from any errands. This one really helps me at the end of the week as, if I’m ahead, I can get started on the following weeks to-do list and, if you can keep the ball rolling like that, you’ll find you’re on top of certain things way ahead of time! This will also help considerably for those much much busier weeks.
Can you tick more than one thing off at a time?
As the old saying goes, can you kill two birds with one stone? Say you have to take a letter to the Post Office on Tuesday but one of Wednesday’s jobs is to fill up your car, see if it’s possible to do these both in the same trip and then you’ll have one less thing to get done on Wednesday. This is probably common sense, but I know we’ve all put something off until the next day for the smallest little excuse.
As I’ve said earlier in this post, grouping jobs together is my best, quick and easy trick for keeping on top of things. You can start putting 3 jobs in each day of the week, can be less can be more but I find 3 is attainable for most. If you haven’t been able to sit down and do this on the weekend before, try doing it each evening or a few days in advance and you’ll start to see those things you’ve been putting off, ticked off before you know it!
I also try and group my jobs together. So, for me, when it comes to blogging, I may have a few things to do including doing a thumbnail, taking photos, doing a ‘Shop This Post’ carousel (which is basically the links for the items mentioned in a post) and then make some pins for the post. Instead of using 5 minutes free time to just do the thumbnail or taking photos for my blog, I will use that 5 minutes to do something else i.e. change the bed. Then later on or another day, I’ll find 3o minutes to do all of those blog jobs I have to do; this feels like a 3 in 1 and the satisfaction you get ticking them off really feels like a weight off your shoulders.
So, that wraps up my tips on things to do on a Sunday to SMASH the coming week; I really hope this post was helpful with easing the Sunday night anxieties and making the most of your time when doing the odd jobs and errands. I know it’s not much of a festive post, but I hope it was useful none the less.
See you tomorrow!!
Do you have any tips for having more of a productive week? Do you use any of the tips I mentioned in your everyday life?
