Sunday Scaries are not a real thing for me because I plan. I have learned to not dread the upcoming week as I want it to be a great week. Yes, I’m one of those people that believe you can speak things into existance and I do not want to have a bad week. And, neither should you. Those thoughts aren’t friendly and set the dread in your life. Monday morning is nothing to dread. It’s another day that you get to live, let’s get that out of the way. Another chance to live your life.
But, I get it. There is SO much to do. The weekend is never enough to get through the household chores, making sure everyone is ready for the week, meal prepping, extracurricular activities for you or your kids, if you have them. Honestly, there is not enough time in the day to get things done that we want to get done unless we time block and plan out our entire day. That is something that I will not be doing.
I’m a corporate girlie that goes into the office around three times week and I have a child in Pre-K that needs to be dropped off and picked up. It doesn’t seem like a lot but it is. No worries, I’ve started to figure out a good routine and it only took four years since things change once your child goes from daycare to school and schedules are always changing. Fingers crossed, we get it together one day.
So, let’s take a moment to plan for the upcoming week. Let’s dive into how we can plan out the next week (to the best of our abilities because life happens).
Plan your looks for the week
It feels like I’m a child again and my parents are reminding me to lay out my outfit for the next day, but I’m all about laying out my looks. I have found that in the morning when I don’t lay out my clothes or have an idea of what I am going to wear, I am rushing. I’m rushing to get myself ready and my son ready and that’s not the way to start the day. Not only am I overstimulating myself, but I’m overstimulating him and getting him all riled up. Not the vibe.
Instead, planning our outfits for the days that you have to be in the office is a blessing. It’s been a life saver, honestly. I feel like I’ve been holding myself back because I’m just now doing this. Usually when I plan out my looks, I aim for laying out all three choices so I can grab a look based on the weather and my mood. It’s a quick and easy process to get ready in the morning because it saves me those 5-10 minutes that it took to put together an outfit. Definitely a must-do for a successful week.
Tidy up each day
Now, I am all about a deep clean and getting up on Saturday or Sunday morning to get the house all cleaned up. But, I am all about tidying up throughout my week so I don’t feel like my house is a hot mess. Each day in my planner has a room that needs to be tidied. There is a day to vacuum, a day to carpet clean, a day to mop, and each day is assigned a room that needs to be tackled with a super clean. It helps take off the load of doing everything on the weekend when I can just relax on the weekend. Genius, right?
Think about it. If you’re tackling a room or chore each day then there isn’t a huge mess to clean up on the weekend. You can jump right into mopping and washing the baseboards. Tackle those crevices that you save for that bi-weekly clean. Or clean up enough to where you can hire a housekeeper to come in and do the deep cleans for you. Either way, make the load lighter on yourself by doing something each day.
Meal prep and prepare for the week
Preparing for the week is the best thing that you can do for yourself. I say this as someone that get shellshocked each month when she sees how much was spent on lunch at work — meal prepping is your bff. Not only are you preparing something that you know you’re going to like — you’re saving time that you would use to spend thinking about what to order and how much to spend, etc. And, I’m not going to overindulge because let’s be real if given the opportunity, I’m ordering dessert. By meal prepping, you’re keeping you and your finances together.
Another thing that I love to do is fill out my planner on Sundays. I love to write out all the things that I need to do so I know before Monday what I’m going to get into. As a mom, you can never be too prepared because things happen, but I like to think that we have a small hold on some of the things that are going to happen like school drop-off and pick-ups, grocery days, which days to going to work out, and more. Overall, it’s nice to have an idea of what is going on in the week before it actually happens.
Review your budget
As a girl that used to be afraid to check her bank account, I am reformed. You should be, too. It’s that. PTSD of living paycheck to paycheck or just struggling that instills this behavior and we have to get out of it. Look, I’m thirty and I’m now getting comfortable with checking my account every day. Obviously, I’m a bit afraid of fraud and someone hacking me so I’m always in there but still. You should be reviewing your budget and setting aside the money you want to spend and save for the week.
When I was in college, I had a professor that would bring $20 in cash each week as his spending money for lunch. It has never left my mind. Lunch is crazy expensive these days — this is coming from a corporate girlie that has been eating out for lunch up until spring came around. Making that $20 for lunch stretch is a talent and I think it should be a goal of everyone. We can live on that $20 for lunch when you think about how we used to make every dollar stretch before pay day in college. Unsolicited advice, but it’s always something I think about when I start to consider ordering lunch. That budget has to stay together and challenging myself to not spend money is my greatest talent.
Plan you time and family time
There is nothing more important than time because we don’t get it back. Make it a priority to schedule time for you, for your family, and for your friends. Some things aren’t going to be every day things like meeting up with friends if you have a family. But, make it part of your routine to schedule out the time that means the most. My partner-in-crime is my Alexa which calls out reminders to my son and I. She’s been very handy for me as I have set an alarm at 5:30 pm that announces I am done with work and it’s time for my son. That might seem over the top, but as soon as she announces it, he knows that it’s time for us to play or read, maybe watch a movie together.
When it comes to scheduling time for myself, I tend to do it on days that I know I’ll be working from home. On those days, a trip during lunch to the nail salon or a break to read a book are my go-to. It’s easy and it doesn’t take up all of my day. I’m one of those people that can’t spend the whole entire day relaxing because I have things to do, but I will get some me time in and I will put it on my planner when I review my availability throughout the week.
Week by week, day by day, I don’t try to plan for everything — but I will plan for the things that need to be done.
I’m not much of a surprise girl when it comes to getting things done so planning out my week helps me feel like I am getting ahead of it. In some ways, I am getting ahead of it. That’s my guide on how I stay ahead of everything as a working mom and coach’s girlfriend. Let me tell you, it’s not easy. I feel overwhelmed and underwhelmed from time to time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Hopefully this helps you figure out some ways to get ahead of your next week. It doesn’t hurt to prepare a little the week before. If you make a plan, you know what might be coming. Obviously, we can’t control everything but we can control our outlook. Sunday Scaries aren’t fun and dreading Monday is the opposite of how you want to go into the week (although, I have those moments, too).
Here’s to planning and getting ahead! I hope your next week is your best week.
For more lifestyle topics, you can view some blog posts here.
Leave a Reply