The Perfect Sunday Routine to Have a Productive Week

A Sunday well spent brings a week of content

Write out your goals

Writing down your goals for the next week, whether they’re health goals or work goals, will give you some focus for the week ahead. If you write down everything you want to accomplish the following week you can prioritise more important things and ensure that you get all of your important tasks done in good time.

I’m a huge fan of time blocking so I’ll use my planner, which has the time of day down the side of the page and write in all of my appointments and things that I cannot change (like work from 7am – 4pm or dentist appointments). I’ll then take a look at all of my tasks and goals for the week and what I need to get done as a priority and block this time off specifically for each task.

For example, say my goal for this week was to do 3 runs and 1 yoga session, I’ll take a look at my free time that I haven’t blocked out the time for and plan in my workouts each day. That way I’ve got no excuses that I don’t have time because I’m making the time and not trying to find the time throughout the week playing it by ear day by day.

Planning out your goals like this will motivate you throughout the week to keep on track and you know what they say ‘a plan without a goal is just a wish’ so stop wishing you could get things done and plan plan plan!

If you’re struggling to get all of your tasks completed within your timeframe, click to read more tips and how you can have an exceptionally productive day

Plan meals & meal prep

Writing out a weekly meal plan has been a game changer for me in terms of sticking to my health goals. A little bit like my time blocking each week, I’ll look at what I might have on that week like eating out or when I might be working away from home and I’ll work out how many meals I’ll need to prep for the week.

If you’re not sure where to start with meal planning, I’ve put together a really easy meal planning template that you can download for FREE here.

Once I’ve got all of my meals planned, it’s time for the prep! Another thing which has really helped me stick to eating healthier has been portioning out each meal into containers. When I first started meal prepping I used these super affordable meal prep containers. There are 14 in a pack so I’d plan out all of my lunches and all of my dinners and put little stickers on the front so I knew which day and which meal was in each.

Then I’d go to the fridge and pick out which meal I was having for that day along with any snacks I may have put aside with them too. If you set aside some time each Sunday for prepping your meals you’ll save tons of time during the week to do more fun stuff and there’s less washing up! It’s win-win.

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Self-care

Sunday always used to be a day of rest but these days it’s the day we try to get everything tied up in a neat little bow typically before the working week starts again. If you haven’t already heard of Self Care Sunday I’ve got some easy self-care tips for you. Making time for yourself will make you feel energised and more productive as well as decreasing your stress and anxiety levels. We are all so busy these days trying to fit in a career, relationships, family and keeping on top of our health and well being that we sometimes forget to take some time out for ourselves.

Take some time out of your Sunday to recharge your batteries and help feel motivated and refreshed for the week ahead. Here are some quick and easy things you can do right now to take care of yourself: –

• run yourself a relaxing bath with some candles
• read a trashy magazine or book
• take a walk somewhere pretty
• spend some time with a pet
• bake your favourite dessert or cake
• write a list of some of your favourite things
• do some crafting or something creative that you enjoy
• watch your favourite film or Netflix series with a drink or snack that you love
• put your phone or electronics away for an hour
• give yourself a manicure or pedicure
• do a guided meditation podcast or YouTube video
• listen to some of your favourite tunes and dance around
• call a friend

Set out your outfits

Whether you’re heading out for school or work, one thing that will save you oodles of time during the week is planning your outfits for each day. This may feel like a chore at first but once you start doing it, you’ll find it difficult to stop!

I like to hang up entire outfits including jewellery and accessories on one hangar for each day and when I’m getting ready for work on a morning I can just grab the hanger for that day and I don’t have to think about whether it matches or whether I’m happy with a piece of clothing I own on a whim because I’ve put thought into each one.

Put away laundry

Admittedly, this is my most hated job but gosh do I feel accomplished once it’s done! I always do a wash of my work clothes on a Thursday night (as it’s dress down Friday the next day) and my other loads on Saturday morning. This means that by Sunday night everything will be clean and dry for me to wear the following week.

While this isn’t a necessary step, I have organised my clothes right down to my underwear, within an inch of their lives. I’ve got drawer inserts for all of my socks and tights and I line them up so I can see them all perfectly and can grab exactly what I need without searching through a messy drawer.

This does mean that it adds to my putting away laundry time but I feel so much more organised once it’s done.

Clean bedsheets

Who doesn’t love getting into a clean bed ready for the week because I certainly do! I make sure that I strip the bed off and have a spare set to put on for the wash so that I’ve got no excuse to change the sheets every week.

Ah just imagine that feeling of getting into a lovely clean bed on a Sunday evening after you’ve accomplished all of your other Sunday routine tasks. Bliss.

Clean room / house

Starting the working week off with a clean house will encourage you to keep it tidy throughout the week when you have less free time. It will also be much easier to keep on top of the weekly chores if your house or room is already clean and tidy.

To save yourself from having a monster of a job on Sunday, keep on top of the household chores by spending a least 15 minutes every day, even if it’s just having a quick tidy up every night before you go to bed.

Exercise

I know what you’re thinking, Sunday should be a day of rest why would I want to exercise? Even gentle exercise like a walk will make you feel more energised and awake which will help you get all of your other tasks done.

Take some time out of your Sunday to explore somewhere new and spend some time in the great outdoors.

I hope you’ve found these tips useful and that you can plan your own Sunday routines to best suit your lifestyle.

Let me know any of your favourite Sunday routines that I’ve left off of the list in the comments below.