Sunday Power Hour

On Sundays for the last several years, I block out an hour so I can get organized, plan my week and set myself up for success. First, I fill out my planner with all my important calendar events. From there, I am able to see what days are busier or less busy and plan my workouts and our family dinners accordingly. Knowing what days are busier helps me pair them with shorter workouts and easier or pre-prepped dinners. There’s nothing worse than coming home after a long day knowing you still have to do a long workout or make a complicated dinner! Then I write down my tasks for the week and compile a grocery list. All this planning ahead keeps me on track and helps me work more efficiently throughout the whole week.

Generally, my planner doesn’t take me anywhere near an hour so I use the extra time to prep food for the week. I’m not one who can eat the same meal more than twice in a week so if you had a vision of 15 tupperware containers with the same breakfast, lunch and dinner for the week, that is definitely NOT me! However, I do love to have a breakfast or two ready to go in the fridge for busy mornings when I’m getting 3 kids off to camp or school. I also like to prep fruit and veggies so we can easily grab them for snacks, salads or packing lunches. It’s amazing how much more produce gets eaten when you make it easy for everyone to grab. Also, if I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll even make a dinner for later in the week (preferably one that tastes better the next day, like chili or pasta sauce). I assure you, I am never sad about having something ready to eat on busy evenings!

Perhaps the most important thing to remember when planning your week is flexibility. Planning is meant to relieve stress, not create more of it. It’s not set in stone. Some weeks have more curveballs than others and you need to allow yourself to adjust. If your schedule changes and you have to switch a workout, that is totally ok! Miss a workout altogether? Maybe you can make that your day off and shift the other workouts down in your week. Perhaps you just need another day off? Do you have to eat Tuesday’s planned dinner on Tuesday night if it no longer sounds good? Nope! You can eat another night’s dinner or switch up the recipe. Or throw yourself a bone and get takeout. Once a week is no biggie, but takeout 3-4 nights a week can be costly for both the wallet and the waistline. The idea is that you have a framework for the week and if you can check of your to-do’s, get all/most of the workouts in and use the groceries you bought, you’re doing great!

Finally, don’t forget to schedule something FUN for the week. Maybe it’s a date night with your partner, a hike, pedicure or a girl’s night out. Sometimes we get so stuck in our routines that we forget to prioritize things that bring us joy. Get that joy on your calendar!

Now tell me, do you plan your week? What are your strategies?