If you’ve read my post about weekly planning or Friday planning, you already know my process for planning my week in advance. This post will share some task ideas that help you plan and prep for the upcoming week, which saves you hours of time in the long run!
Some of the things that can make us feel “behind” every week are the home tasks (such as meal prep, cleaning, and laundry) and self-care tasks (such as workouts, planning your outfits, etc.).
I find it easier to plan for these things during my weekly planning time, which saves me time during the week.
Here are some examples:
1 – Daily self-care – quiet time in the morning, journaling, prayer and meditation, reading, exercise, personal care appointments such as hair appointments, manicures, etc.
We’ve already talked about scheduling this time (in the “pay yourself first” tip #2 in my weekly planning post). Here you will plan WHAT you will do during this important time. What will help you to feel your best? What will help you take better care of yourself?
This obviously varies from person to person. But planning for the specific times you will do your personal favorite activities helps you to be sure that you actually take the time to do those things that make you feel your best.
2 – Schedule rest & downtime. This is another extremely important part of self-care. Rest boosts our creativity, problem-solving, and productivity. Rest isn’t something you get to when everything else is done – it is a necessity.
Set specific bedtime and wake-up times for yourself. Plan what you will do to help yourself get a better night’s sleep. (This is also included in the “pay yourself first” tip #2 in this post.)
3 – Workouts – what days will you work out, where, and what will you do? “Workout” doesn’t have to mean going to the gym or spending hours on a treadmill. Any kind of movement that makes you feel stronger and healthier counts as a workout.
4 – Plan your menus for the week. This can become a whole ritual unto itself. (Send me an email if you want my tips!) You can take this a step further and order groceries online, which will save you even more time (and money).
5 – Cleaning routine – what days will you do laundry? When are trash & recycling collection days? What other cleaning chores need to be done this week?
(By the way – unless you live alone, you don’t have to do all of this yourself. Delegate the tasks, hire a cleaning service if you can do that, and if you have kids, start teaching them how to do these tasks as early as possible.)
6 – Outfits to wear this week – I make note of the temperature for each day and when rain might be expected. That helps me choose what to wear each day.
7 – Fun things you just WANT to do – grab coffee with a friend, watch your favorite show on Netflix, read a book.
8 – Declutter something – your car, your purse, your desk, your school bag. List an area that is driving you crazy and plan a time to declutter that area.
9 – As you plan, you may notice things that stress you out. Maybe it’s a work event or work task, maybe it’s a social event you have to attend but don’t want to, maybe it’s a medical appointment that has you worried.
Here’s what I do with these: I create a “give it to God” list. These are items that I can worry or stress about, I can plan for them and schedule them, but ultimately I have no control.
So I put them on my “give it to God” list, say a prayer asking for the strength or the wisdom or the grace to handle whatever happens, and I let it go.
Two things always happen:
One is that I feel a sense of peace in knowing that I am not alone and that I don’t have to handle everything by myself;
The second thing is that I somehow come up with ways to handle the task or find the right things to say. That’s God at work, helping me to deal with whatever is stressing me.
10 – Once you make weekly planning a habit, it’s good to start with some reflection every week.
Review your last week almost as if it were a movie. What was good or what went well?
What did not go so well, and what could you do to prevent that next time? You’re not doing this in order to beat yourself up. This helps you to focus on what IS working well for you and what you want to do differently.
I know that ten tips can sound like a lot. Choose one and try it out! Then add another one when you feel ready. I’d love to hear how these tips work for you!
Need more teacher encouragement? Join our Sustainable Teaching community!