Although not everything needs meticulous planning in order to be executed successfully, it does help to have a game plan before you dive head first into the work week. This way, come Wednesday, you don’t feel completely overwhelmed while watching your to-do list grow longer and your anxiety reaches peak levels.
To make sure we collectively don’t fall into that trap again (and potentially get a head start on those New Year’s resolutions — it’s December, people!), here’s how to reset for the week ahead so that we can all have a work week that’s just as hectic as it should be without us adding to it.
plan your most important tasks first
There are always a couple of things you really can’t drop the ball on during the week. Do you have an important work meeting outside of the office? A dentist’s appointment? Bills that need to be paid? Make a list of everything that you absolutely have to get done this week. Then, go through your week and plan all the important stuff first. When that’s taken care of, add in the rest.
Be realistic though, I have oftentimes planned too much into a single week and felt like shit at the end of it for not having completed all of my tasks. Avoid that by estimating the time everything will take you and plan accordingly. I generally use a timetable for the most hectic weeks in order to have a visual overview of the gazillion things I need to get done. This helps me set realistic goals — and it honestly is very soothing to see everything laid out so neatly.
Want to try a timetable, but don’t feel like drawing one out? Download the FREE SlightCHOP! PDF timetable from here. Print out a couple of pages and get planning!
get your email inbox to zero
It’s easy to just go through all your emails in order to get rid of the notifications (Which is what I always do). A better strategy, however, is to actually set some time apart in the weekend to go through your emails. Yes, all of them. If you find something you need or want to read at a later time, put it in a folder. This way you know exactly what’s where without it clogging up your inbox.
BONUS TIP: while you’re at it, go ahead and unsubscribe from a bunch of email newsletters that you always intend to read, but never do. If you end up regretting it you can always resubscribe later.
meal prep as much as you can
I’ll be completely honest and say I’m not really into meal prepping. However, every time I do it I [1] feel so much better about myself and [2] am relieved to get home after a long day and find that dinner can be served in under 15 minutes. If you don’t feel like cooking in advance, just plan out the meals you want to make throughout the week. Go through your refrigerator and pantry, see what you already have and if you can make some meals with that. Else a trip to the grocery store will do the trick.
A beginner at meal prepping? Watch these videos for quick and healthy meal prep ideas for every diet:
- ONE HOUR Meal Prep For The Week! – Mind Over Munch
- Epic Vegan Meal Prep (with measurements) – Rachel Ama
- Meal Prepping Vegetarian – Epic Recipes For Vegetarians – FlavCity with Bobby Parish
clean out your downloads folder
Throughout the week your computer can get pretty clogged up with things you just accumulate — just because. Decide what you need to keep and what can go. If you’re someone who does a lot of different projects and works with programs like Photoshop and Final Cut Pro, also go through “bad” versions and delete those. This immediately frees up space on your computer and ensures that when you finally sit down to do a big clean up, you don’t have billions of duplicates to go through.
up your self-care game
Yes, you are a productive human being who gets shit done. But just as you have to plug in that laptop to keep doing all of that amazing stuff every week, you need to recharge. You work better and harder when you feel good, so find the time in the week to treat yourself. This could be you deciding to reserve the entire Saturday or Sunday for facials, hair masks, a manicure, a walk in the park, movie night on the couch — whatever feels good.
Additionally: set time apart every single day to do something that benefits how you feel. This could be spending an hour on the couch every evening to read your book, turning off your phone after 8 pm and just focusing on yourself, or making an outrageous desert for one (I love this last option!).
Need some extra self-care tips? Here are four more!
What are a couple of things you like to do to jumpstart your week? Please let me know in the comments, and if you try anything out for yourself, I’d love it if you’d share it.