What I do on Sundays really decides how my week goes. There are nine things I try to always do on Sundays to help the rest of my week run smoothly. It doesn't take a ton of time, but if I don't do these things, I'm almost guaranteed to have a bumpy week. Check out the video here, or keep reading to find out what I do to set myself up for success the rest of the week!
1. Throw out last week's leftovers.
This only takes a few minutes, but it's so key for me. I hate walking into the kitchen to grab something quick for lunch or prep dinner and then finding a science project growing mold. I don't want to do the mental gymnastics of figuring out when I made something, if it's still okay to eat, and whether I think it might make me sick.
If I do a quick run through of my fridge contents every Sunday, nothing ever gets too old. It saves me time during the week, and it helps me eat up things better because I'm more aware of what's in there and available to eat. There's less waste, too. Throwing out leftovers also sets me up for the next steps in my Sunday routine!
2. Clean your kitchen!
Ideally, you'd be able to give your entire house a quick clean if things aren't too messy. But this isn't always possible. At minimum, I like to clean my kitchen, though. It really is the center of the home, and if my kitchen is clean, I just feel better about the whole house in general!
I always clear off my hotspots. The island collects all the stuff we toss down when we come in the house, and it is SO hard to keep tidy! At least I get it completely clear once a week during my Sunday reset.
I also wipe down counters (because maybe that doesn't get done every day LOL!) and take care of any dishes. I love coming into a clean tidy kitchen on Monday morning. It just gives me so much peace. Monday mornings are hard enough!
3. Create a meal plan.
Do this in your kitchen after you've tossed leftovers and cleaned up your kitchen. If you're in the kitchen, you can easily see what you have. You can make a solid plan to use up that chicken that is about to go bad. If you have a ton of tortillas from when you found them on clearance (me, LOL!), then you can make a plan to start using them up.
Choose whatever menu planning routine you like. I've done all sorts of different plans over the years. If my life is really crazy, I've rotated the same weekly menu every week for a month. I've also assigned days– meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, etc. You can subscribe to a menu service to change things up.
There are so many ways to tackle this, but I don't want this to take a long time. The last thing I want is for you to sit there for an hour agonizing over what's for dinner! Whatever method is easiest for you is what you should do. The important thing is that you end up with a clear plan of food for the week.
One thing I would recommend for everyone on any plan is to have at least a short list of go-to meals that your family loves. They should be easy to throw together– kind of no-brainer meals!
4. Clear out your email inbox, voicemails, and texts.
This is a mini-tech reset for the week. I don't know about you, but I don' always handle every single text or voicemail as it comes in. I'm not very productive if I stop for every little interruption. Sometimes they're not even important in the moment anyway. But they can build up, and even if they don't need urgent attention when they come in, sometimes there is something I really do need to follow up on.
On Sundays I'll look back over my texts to see if I missed anything or still need to respond. I'll actually listen to those voicemails if they've fallen by the wayside. I also like to clear out my email inbox. If there's a school calendar email, I need to know about pajama day coming up this week or something. I don't want things to fall through the cracks with my kids, so I always sift through these types of emails to be sure I'm on track for the coming week.
5. Review your finances.
I use a budgeting app called YNAB. It requires me to categorize all my expenses. It's linked to my cards, so every time I swipe that card for anything– a Starbuck's run, or an online order, or groceries– it gives me a line item that I then have to go back and assign to my budget categories. This can really build up over a week LOL!
Sometimes I'm good at keeping up with this, but other times I've had a hectic week and haven't really looked at it! If this is the case, I can have 200 or more entries (you'd be shocked at how many times I can swipe that card LOL!). If I catch up on Sunday, it keeps it from building up to an unmanageable amount of entries.
Also, looking at my budget and accounts weekly helps me keep on track with financial goals. Am I doing well this week, or do I need to curb the door dash and eating out (totally me more often than not) to hit my budget goals?
6. Plan for the week and set goals.
I have a whole video on how I plan my days using a “three bucket system.” If you're interested, you can check that out, but however you plan your days is great, as long as it's working well for you. The important thing is to review what's coming up for the week so we know how we'll tackle it all!
First start with any appointments. You have to be physically there (or at least available by phone) for those appointments, so the times really aren't negotiable. Set those in your planner, and then make your to-do list, or rather your wishlist of what you'd like to get done for the week.
I also like to ask myself what I need for the week. Sometimes I'm focused work or family. Sometimes I'm focused on rest and relaxation, and this is totally fine. Literally, taking a nap will be on my to-do list LOL! It helps me feel better about taking time to rest, though, because it's my plan, and I can cross it off my to-do list. Resting was literally my goal for the week, and I accomplished it LOL!
The important thing in planning is that we review what's coming up to be sure we don't have the stress of missing something.
7. Have a family meeting or be sure your family is on board.
You can do this however you want, but the important thing is that everyone in your family knows the plan. Do you need to figure out their schedules if you have older kids? Do they need rides somewhere?
I also make sure my kids know they're responsible for taking something to school on a certain day or for picking out pajamas for that pajama day. This really helps delegate some of the tasks. It's also good training for kids to learn how to be responsible for themselves as they grow!
8. Plan outfits for the week.
This one is totally optional. It's not for everyone, but it has really helped me out. I plan outfits not only for myself but for my kids. Deciding what to wear is actually a bit stressful for me! It always makes my mornings go smoother if I have an outfit set out. For me, it takes less time to do this all at once for the whole week instead of doing it every day the night before. I can always change something if I want, but it's nice to not be faced with a decision first thing in the morning LOL!
This can work even better with kids. My kids each have a days-of-the-week sorter so that we can tuck an outfit inside each bin. This helped them get dressed independently when they were really little. Even now it helps them get dressed so much more quickly than they would otherwise! If your child wants to have input on what they wear, just have them do this with you or even on their own on Sundays (again, part of teaching them to be independent!).
9. Relax, recharge, and go to bed early!
This may be the most important tip– but almost all of us could do with more rest! Although I'm still productive on a Sunday, I try to really make it my day of rest compared to the rest of the week.
I always try to get outside in some way. Even if I'm just on my porch, being outdoors tends to relax me. If you're really brave, you can also make Sundays (or part of the day) tech-free in your home. I think most of us don't realize how much our tech devices can stress us out. They interrupt us all the time, and most of us are completely tied to our phones, to the point where it induces anxiety to be without it. It's probably not healthy, LOL! Try to take at least some dedicated time away from screens on a Sunday to see if it helps center you a bit.
I always try to have some dedicated family time on Sundays. It might only be a half hour or an hour of putting together a puzzle or playing a game. We don't always take as much family time as we should, so I try to focus on at least a chunk of time with my husband and kids without electronic or screen distractions. This is a focused time to be fully present with your family without other distractions!
Finally– get to bed early!!! I know this one is SO HARD! Rest is so important, though, and most of us don't get nearly enough. On Sundays, we get home from church around 7 or so, and by the time we eat we're already kind of winding down, and kids are getting ready for bed. It's easy for me to just follow their lead and start heading to bed myself. I may not actually fall asleep, but do NOT try to make this your super-productive time after everyone is in bed. I know this works for some, and if it works for you, then do that throughout the week. But you deserve some time to rest, too, so be sure you're prioritizing good sleep! Functioning at your well-rested best sets you up for productivity!
Hopefully this has given you some ideas of how you can tweak your Sunday routines a bit to make your week run more smoothly! Sometimes it's little things or things that really don't take more than a few minutes that can have the most impact. What do you do on Sundays to set yourself up for a better week?
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