Sunday Setup for Weekday Success ~

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For some parents juggling full time work hours, kids in school, extra curricular activities, the never ending mountain of laundry, and everything in between, Monday mornings can either break you or set you up for a successful week. I’ve only been a parent for almost 7 years but I believe I have come up with a system that will make your weekdays a little less stressful and off to a good start! All it takes is a couple of hours of your Sunday to make your Sunday setup.

Step 1: Write it Down

To prepare for the week ahead you must know what’s coming up! Look at e-mails, texts, schedules, and notes to see what is important and needs to be written down in a notebook or on a calendar. Things to write down would be doctors’ appointments, ball games, meetings, lessons, practices, etc. If you know your child has ice cream day on Wednesday, go ahead and write it down. Need to bring money to a sports team, write that down. Once everything is noted, place your notebook or calendar in a place you can easily access and look at. For our family, I use an Erin Condren LifePlanner as well as a dry erase calendar board to write down everything. You could also use your phone’s calendar or download one of the countless apps designed to keep your organized!

Step 2: Book Bags/Work Bags

Your calendar or notebook will help you with this step! Take a look at what’s coming up for the week. Does your child need their ice cream money on Monday morning? Go ahead and put it in their book bag. Is a teacher requesting items for the week? Place them in your child’s book bag. Water bottles for work or school? Put them in work bags or back packs. Whatever you will need for the week, go ahead and put them in their designated bags. Once they’re ready, place them by the door, in your car, or wherever you can that will be easiest for you.

Step 3: Meal Plan

Some people do monthly meal plans and if you do, skip this step. If you go week by week, may I suggest Sundays to meal plan? My husband and I sit down some time during Sundays, sometimes with our kids, and we go over the schedule for the upcoming week and make a meal plan based on our week ahead. If we know we have a ball game during dinner time, we make sure to do a crock pot meal or make something easy to make, like sandwiches. If you have nothing on your schedule for one of the week days, try a new recipe on this day or do a recipe that takes more time than normal. Write this meal plan on the same notebook or calendar as your schedule so again, you can see it! No more guessing or stressing over what’s for dinner.

Step 4: Outfits

There’s just something about laying outfits out for the week that’s such a “weight off your shoulders” kind of feeling. Find where the best place is to lay out your outfits. My family uses the fabric closet shelf organizer for my kids’ clothes. We like that it has a day of the week on each shelf so my oldest and I can easily see which outfits are for each day. You may want to consult your calendar or notebook and the predicted weather for the week so you can pull out weather appropriate clothes, uniforms, practice outfits, performance outfits, etc. (I’ve been there trying to find a belt or socks for my son’s baseball game and wanting to pull my hair out because I can’t remember where he took it off or where I put it.) This will save you SO much stress having everything laid out and ready to go. Instead of panicking before a game and running around for 20 minutes, you can use those 20 minutes to spend time with your family.

I hope these tips will help you have a successful work week! At the rate our kids are growing, we need every minute possible to make those special memories with our kids. What are some ways you setup your week to gain those extra moments with your family?

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