lanning doesn’t come naturally to everyone but for some people it’s like breathing. I sit firmly in the latter camp. I adore diaries, calendars, planners, apps and to do lists.
I bloody love a good plan and I’m bloody good at planning. Here are a few things I do to plan my week.
Do Admin on Sundays
Pay bills, order shopping, renew licenses. There’s not really any such thing as business hours now and everything can be done on the weekend. If you leave personal admin tasks for a weekday, they’ll weigh on you and you’ll put them off. No one is expecting you to answer an email on a Sunday so take an hour on Sunday afternoons to do these tasks. This also has the added bonus of making you feel useful on Sundays.
Plan for your life not someone else’s
There’s no point in meal planning in a traditional sense if your life is erratic. If you’re a parent and you’re almost definitely going to be home every night for dinner that week, by all means meal plan away but if you might end up on a plane interstate on Wednesday leaving a fridge of slimy vegetables behind, don’t meal plan.
Exercise on Sunday
Research has shown that if you exercise on a Sunday you are far more likely to exercise consistently through out the week. So don’t skip your Sunday work out – it sets you up for the week ahead.
Give your week a theme or a focus
We all have so much stuff going that it’s really hard to prioritise what needs doing. For example, I’m the most snowed under I’ve been with work this year so I have 2 focusses at the moment. Work and the gym. I’m obviously trying to eat well and not be a shit friend and all that stuff but work and the gym are my priorities right now. You might want to pick study, or time with your kids, or your mental health. Choose one or two things and concentrate on them.
Use Sunday to actually plan your week
Spend 20 minutes with your diary on a Sunday. Decide the most important things that need doing and plan for them. If you don’t have a calendar, get one. (I can recommend Moleskines Timepage!). Also just a note on planning – be present where you are. If you’re at work, be at work. If you’re at home, be at home. Half doing things is one of the biggest issues with feeling erratic an unplanned. Focus on the thing you’re currently doing.
This week on Straight and Curly, Kelly and I talking about planning out our weeks.
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Are you a planner? Or do you sort of let things happen?
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P.S If you’re looking to plan some hobby time why not try crochet?
7 Comments
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Thank you so much for the tips for planning – this is something that I suck at, and need to get more in it!!!
mikkileaa.com
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Author
You’re welcome! Hope you got some decent tips out of it!
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I love this! I’m a total planner and love how other planners plan!!
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Oh me too! I love looking at other people’s organisation ways!
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I finally listened to this episode today & something you said really clicked with me- give your weeks a theme. Everyday I have a list of things I’d like to get done, today it had meal prep, garden prep & organise kids wardrobes. Not surprisingly I got nothing done because I was flitting from one area to anther without actually completely finishing anything! So I’m going to try your way but do it my way. I’m going to theme my days. And while I may not be able to be as focused as you because of my 4 kids I’m going to give it a red hot go!!
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Oh good! I coined that action out of sheer desperation but it’s doing me very well actually. I’m working way too hard but it’s only temporary and it’s keeping me on track!
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