Raise your hand if you have missed a meeting, caved to the flashy drive thru between school and soccer practice, dropped the ball on paying a bill on time or felt chaotic in your cluttered bedroom.
A little preparation at the beginning of the week will prevent these weak moments and so much more from interrupting your family's world.
1 SCHEDULE
Knowing what the week will bring helps make plans for a successful and low-stress week. Open your calendar and take a look at what's scheduled for the week. Add items to your week's calendar as you work through the actionable schedule items below.
Events, Bills, Meetings
Review mail and documents folder recording actionable items as needed in calendar
Reminders
Send emails or texts to those you are scheduled to meet
Review email inbox
Goals
Establish week’s goals
Self-care
Establish week’s self-care schedule whether that be time to yourself, a massage, yoga practice, etc.
Scheduling
Record to-do list items, goals and self-care in calendar
2 MEAL PREP
Taking these steps will allow you to use up what you have on hand and to maintain a clean and organized pantry and fridge.
Clean out fridge Add missing essentials or items you are low on to grocery list
Wipe clean any spills
Reorganize fridge with like items being stored together
Organize pantry Add missing or essentials you are low on to grocery list
Plan week's meals
Using what you have on hand and what is on sale, create week's meal plan
Make grocery list
Using the week's meal plan and the grocery lists created when cleaning out fridge and pantry, add missing ingredients identified when creating meal plan
Shop for groceries I like Superstore because the Optimum points add up fast
Portion and / or Freeze
Divide and freeze or refrigerate portioned foods such as meat, veggies, fruit, etc.
Decant Foods
Remove from packaging and store in respective containers. For example, dump the packaged snacks into snack bin, flour into flour bin, etc.
3 ORGANIZE
Returning misplaced items to their respective homes on a regular frequency will allow you to more easily stay on top of your home's tidying and cleaning.
Gather misplaced items
By entering one room at a time, gather up the items that have been misplaced and place them in a reset bin Rehome items
Rehome items from the reset bin to their respective homes
4
DECLUTTER Establish three bins labelled; donate, consign, trash and place them in a central location in your home. While in each room, organizing, pull those items you can easily identify as no longer being used or needed.
Donate
Place items in good useable condition in a bin labelled donate.
Consign
Place clothing items with value of $40 or more and in excellent condition in a bin labelled consign.
Trash
For items that have no value, place them in the bin labelled trash.
5 LAUNDRY
Being prepared with the right outfit for that important meeting with your company's president or your daughter's music recital will prevent morning meltdowns and tardies.
Plan your outfits
Consider week’s schedule and decide on outfits for the week
Before going to bed each night, lay out your outfit and your children's outfits so that they are all set for morning.
Taking these steps really will set you up for a less-stress week and help you to be more present. Share with us any steps you take to make your life a little easier.
Happy Sunday.