Does the phrase “A Case of the Mondays” define your week, regardless of the actual day? Do you struggle through the day to day, perpetually two steps behind? Or find that life it is happening to you or even just around you? Let me tell you, I have been there! And I know how to keep myself from winding up there! These things to do on Sunday, things I actually do myself, to both prepare and recharge for each new week!
Without a doubt, taking a bit of time to strategize and prepare for the week keeps you in control of your time and up to speed with the world around you. These things to do on Sunday will nicely wrap up the weekend, get you some downtime with your husband and let you head into the week organized, refreshed, and recharged. So what do I call this miraculous blueprint for an amazing week? Read More
Our Sunday Strategy Meeting
I know the title sounds super
1. Take a Look Ahead at the Week
Review upcoming to-dos, activities & appointments for yourself, your husband and your kids…. and write them down. It doesn’t matter if you track your to-dos and calendar digitally or with good ol’ paper and pen. What’s important is to get it down where you will see it daily.
For my calendar, I use a combination of both. I put all appointments straight into my Google calendar. I like having my calendar at my fingertips everywhere I go without having to carry a bulky planner. One of my “to dos” on Sunday Strategy nights is to copy my calendar into my A5 Binder Planner. For me, there is something about pen and paper that commits information to memory. Additionally, I use my Binder Planner throughout the week for my meal plan, shopping list, and to-dos. So most days it sits open on our kitchen island, easily visible.
The central position that my Binder Planner holds in our home makes it the obvious place to keep my to-do list as well. When setting my to-dos on Sundays I don’t just list them, I prioritize them. This ensures the “needs” get done ahead of the “wants”. I use 4 categories: Must Do, Should Do, Would Like To Do, and To-Do for Next Week. I start with the Must Do items and don’t move on to the next category until everything has been resolved. There are a lot of apps that will digitize to-dos for you, I just prefer paper and pencil for the joy of crossing off items when they are complete- LOL!
Ultimately what system you use: digital, paper, bullet journal, whiteboard, wall calendar– is completely up to you. Just make sure you set them or review them in your Sunday Strategy meetups and that they are somewhere you will see them.
2. Check Accounts/Cash Envelopes
Depending on how your budget is set up you may not need to do this weekly– but if the previous week was just one of those weeks where everyone needed money for something, taking a minute to check on your financial situation is a good idea.
Plus, now that you’ve reviewed your upcoming week, it is a good time to see if you have any financial commitments in the upcoming week. In our cash envelopes, I paperclip and mark with a post-it any funds already “claimed” for an expense so we don’t accidentally spend the money!
3. Update Your Goals
I’d be willing to bet most of us set goals or resolutions of some sort at the beginning of the year. However, for many these well-intentioned goals are a distant memory by Valentine’s Day. Given that sad fact, I make sure to update my goals weekly to keep the same from happening to me! Tracking what I have accomplished, no matter how small, and mapping my next actions holds me accountable and keeps my goals in motion.
Of course, setting SMART goals helps. If you haven’t set any goals yet do it NOW!! Working toward and accomplishing goals will help you realize and live out your purpose. Don’t worry, you’re never too late to start and there are no “wrong” goals!
4. Check for Birthdays
Speaking of goals, one of mine this year is to be more intentional with people I love. We actually started in December, sending out Christmas cards for the first time ever! My husband and I sat down and made a list of our immediate family members and close friends– we didn’t include extended family because we didn’t want to overwhelm ourselves in our first year-lol!
Since our goal was to be intentional, not just to send Christmas cards, we also committed to sending everyone a birthday card. To make this go smoothly I selected a card for everyone at the beginning of the year and marked their birthdays on my calendar. When we see their birthday approaching we pull out their card, sign it and send it on its way!!
Now obviously you may not have the same goals but I imagine there are a few people you might like to send a birthday card to now and then. Plus checking for birthdays gives you a chance to pick up gifts and cards for any parties you or your kiddos have been invited to in advance. I promise you, come party day, having a patiently selected, wrapped, and ready-to-go gift is so much better than rushing through Target right before the party! (I can’t be the only one who has done this, right?? LOL!) And don’t forget to earmark the funds for the gift in your budget!
5. Meal Prep
If you aren’t already doing meal planning you definitely should– but this is more of the “next step”. After all, the best-laid plans are all for nothing if you don’t use them. All you need to do is take a look at your activities for the week and roughly hash out what meals you will have which nights.
This will make dinner a breeze, especially on nights when there are activities. (I recommend fast or
Don’t forget about breakfast!
I prefer my kids to have a hot breakfast but they are no stranger to cold cereal. In fact. they love it… which is super frustrating, especially as cold cereal always leaves them starving by mid-morning. Prepping breakfast on Sunday makes getting a hot breakfast in front of them so much easier! It might be something as simple as scrambling some eggs and cooking up a tray of bacon or sausage to be reheated throughout the week. Don’t think that means boring breakfast! We love using eggs and bacon or sausage for breakfast sandwichs or burritos or smothered in cheese with avocado and salsa for a southwest breakfast melt.
Of all the things to do on Sunday night to meal prep is not one you will want to skip!
6. Pack Your Bags
Whether you carry a purse, backpack or have made room for everything in a diaper bag one of my “MUST” things to do on Sunday night is cleaning out, organizing, and repacking our bags bag. I toss trash, sort receipts and make sure I have my wallet, scratch paper, a pen, a few simple beauty products, and napkins in my purse. In my son’s diaper bag I carry a small first aid kit, cups for the kids, and of course diapers, wipes, snacks, and a few small toys.
It only takes a few minutes but those are a few minutes I simply don’t have on my way out the door during the week! It is such a relief to know it’s DONE!
7 Don’t Forget Your Spouse!!
I’ve been doing Sunday Strategy sessions solo for some time now. It has done wonders for my personal productivity and making sure stuff doesn’t fall through the cracks. But my husband and I were lacking communication of our plans with each other. This occasionally led snafus of varying severity. We needed to be better about our communication!
A few months back we started doing our Sunday Strategy sessions together, covering
Baby Steps
Plus, having Sunday Strategy sessions with your husband is a great baby step to family meetings! We like to wrap up our Sunday Strategy sessions with a bit of Sunday Funday– basically a home date night! We might play cards, a board game, light a fire in the fire pit or just snuggle up on the couch for a movie. It might not seem like much, but between his classes, my business, both of our volunteer obligations, three kids, and in case that wasn’t enough; he is a total morning person and I am an extreme night owl! If we aren’t intentional with making time for our marriage it just doesn’t happen!
More Things To Do On Sunday?
I hope this list works as well for you as it has for us. Even if you don’t do all of them focusing on one or two will give your week a boost. Do you have some great productivity tips that set you up for a successful week? Share them in the comments below!