As the mom of two little kids with a corporate job, a side hustle, and a house to manage, there’s a lot to do in a week! Here’s how I set myself up for success every Monday.
Getting myself organized for the week ahead is one of the most important things I do to keep all the balls in the air every day. Between a full-time corporate job, keeping up with this side hustle as a content creator, chasing my little kids around (ages 5 and 1), and keeping up with all the general house stuff, life can get pretty hectic. I’m sure many of you can relate and probably have way busier schedules than our family.
One of the first things I do when I get to the office on Monday mornings is open my planner and look at the week ahead. I check what I have going on at work as well as our family’s schedule and create a thoughtful to-do list that leaves me feeling organized and set up for a great week both at work and at home.
When I have an extra busy/stressful workweek, it’s tempting to dive headfirst into work projects and emails. But that leaves me feeling scattered and rushed all week long. The week flies by and I’m left wondering what I actually accomplished, or reacting to things last minute as they come up each day. If I don’t plan my week on Mondays, I always end up regretting it.
So this year I’ve made it a non-negotiable to spend 10-15 minutes planning my week every Monday. It helps me get centered and in the right headspace for the week ahead, and I always feel like my weeks go so much smoother.
Looking for more planning tips? Take a look at these blog posts:
- The 7 Planning Tools & Systems I Use To Organize My Whole Life (2022 Update)
- Daily Printable Calendar with Time Slots
- How I Meal Plan & Grocery Shop In Less Than An Hour A Week
- Meal Planning For Beginners Using Themed Days
- Free Printable Calendars – Sunday & Monday Start, Portrait Orientation
The 4 Things I Do To Plan My Week
When I sit down every Monday, there are four main things I do to prepare for the week ahead. Here’s a rundown of my weekly planning routine!
1. Look at the calendar
Look at the calendar to see what’s going on this week. I look at both my personal Google Calendar and my Outlook calendar for work.
As I glance through my meetings, activities, events, appointments, deadlines, and other commitments for the week, I ask myself a few questions:
- What do I need to do to prepare for this?
- Do I need to finalize or confirm any plans?
- Any scheduling conflicts I need to address?
- Anything I need to talk to David about?
Taking the time at the beginning of the week to think ahead and anticipate what needs to be done or what conflicts may arise makes the whole week run smoother.
2. Create A To-Do List
Next, I make a list of personal and home tasks in my planner. This covers everything I want to get done that week, things, like running an errand or buying a birthday gift, or ordering school pictures all go on this list.
I’ve tried so many planners over the years and have found that I really need a planner with lots of room for to-do lists because I really use it to manage all of my tasks, not necessarily to keep track of appointments and dates (those go in my Google Calendar).
I’ve used and loved the Full Focus Planner in the past, but this year I tried something new and created a custom Golden Coil planner. It’s a higher-priced planner, but I’m really happy with it! I was able to customize my planner layout to include lots of space for all of my weekly to-do lists along with some space to create a daily checklist.
I also make a big checklist of all of the to-dos I have for my business this week. This list is usually long and includes all of the Reels and TikToks I want to shoot, deadlines I have with brands, blog posts I want to finish, bookkeeping that needs to be done, and that sort of thing. I use Asana to organize my editorial calendar and long-term projects, but writing out a physical list of tasks helps me prioritize what needs to get done this week.
And speaking of Asana, I also use the free version of Asana to keep track of all of the tasks and projects at my marketing job. I add items to my task list as they come up and then I spend a few minutes each Monday reviewing my upcoming tasks and deadlines and prioritizing my work for the week. I sometimes write my top three tasks for the day in my planner, but usually, I just work through my Asana checklist every day.
3. Set Reminders
My memory is terrible so I rely a lot on the Reminders app on my iPhone and Apple Watch to remember all sorts of little things throughout the week.
If we need to bring birthday treats or show-and-tell items or extra diapers or anything to daycare, I create a reminder for that morning so I don’t forget to grab it when we’re leaving the house.
Reminders are also great for remembering to bring food for the work potluck, returning library books, making phone calls, asking David about something after work, etc.
Leaning on my Apple Watch to keep track of those future items frees up so much brain space for me!
4. Finalize Our Meal Plan & Order Groceries
David and I usually create our weekly meal plan over the weekend, but if we didn’t get to it then I’ll jot down a quick meal list on Monday morning as the final step in my weekly planning routine. You can read more about how I meal plan and grocery shop in less than an hour a week here.
We like to write our meal plan on a big whiteboard in our kitchen, but I also write it down on a sticky note in my planner so I can refer to it when I’m at work.
Once I have a meal plan figured out, I use that plus our running grocery list to place an online grocery order. If I get my order in by lunchtime, our grocery store will have it ready for curbside pickup when I drive by on my way home that night.
Not only does online grocery shopping save me so much time, it also makes it a lot easier to stick to our grocery budget and to make sure I don’t forget something on our shopping list. And stocking our fridge and pantry with groceries on Monday evenings means we have all the food we need for the week so we’re ready for those quick weeknight dinners and less likely to resort to those last-minute drive-through runs.
What’s something that helps you plan your week? I’d love to hear what’s working for you right now!
Looking for more planning tips? Take a look at these blog posts:
- The 7 Planning Tools & Systems I Use To Organize My Whole Life (2022 Update)
- Daily Printable Calendar with Time Slots
- Meal Planning For Beginners Using Themed Days
- Free Printable Calendars – Sunday & Monday Start, Portrait Orientation
Have a fantastic day!
