These productive Sunday habits will help you to start your work week fresher and feel accomplished from the beginning.
Do you, like me, always have too little time during the weekdays?
It’s really annoying when you worked your ass off all day to come home and still have to start planning what to eat and think over all the household or work-related stuff you still have to do in the evenings. Give us a break!
That’s why these 8 productive Sunday habits are a great place to start for a more relaxing and organized week!
So off we go with productive Sunday habit number one.
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1. Pick up your planner and start planning your week
Such fun! I love planning and organizing everything in a paper planner. You could also have an online planner but it feels great to be able to check everything you’ve done and accomplished manually. There is something relaxing about writing your thoughts and plans down on a piece of paper.
So you sit down with your planner looking at a blank week before you. If you’re really the planning type of person it probably isn’t blank to begin with because you filled some things out already ;).
What is already planned?
Think of all the things you need to do in the coming week. Everything you already know can be placed somewhere in your week. You can start with work-related stuff like writing your working hours down or being more specific about what you need to do at work. You can use the time-blocking method to assign blocks of time to every task or groups of tasks for more productivity.
Everything that isn’t work-related but you know already can also be written down. This can be things like doctors’ or dentists’ appointments although it’s better if you write it down in your planner the minute you make the appointment! Fun things like family visits, and date nights but also more ordinary stuff like grocery shopping, hobbies of your kids, and other obligations you might have.
When you put everything in your week that you have to do, it will look a lot more filled already. If you want to start time blocking your schedule, make sure to get a planner with hourly planning like this one for example.
Add your personal goals!
Then start adding some of your personal goals, and things you would like to do in your week so you will have a designated time for them. Some examples might be: reading a book, watching a show, playing with your kids, spa time at home… or you could be more vague (or free) about it and write down me-time, kids-time, couples-time, etc.
A lot of planners come with extra places to write down your weekly goals or positive affirmations. Make sure to fill them out as well before you start your week and look at them regularly!
2. Grocery Shopping
Some people like this, me not so much, so I always try to be prepared when I go grocery shopping.
I make a list every time I do my weekly groceries and try to stick to it as much as possible. This is also good for my wallet! With my list, I go as quickly as I can between the mass of people on a Sunday and try to gather my stuff.
Research and organization are key!
But before I can make this list, I need to know what I am going to eat the next week. I keep a folder on my laptop with recipes I tried in the past and liked, and also a folder with new recipes to try out. I choose the recipes I feel like making the next week and write down all the ingredients on my shopping list. It’s very handy to do a recipe search once in a while to find new recipes to try. I also cut recipes out of magazines my grandmother buys every week.
Going to the same store every week is very time efficient because I know where everything is located in that store. When I go to a new store, it takes me way longer to get the job done.
For the haters
If you HATE grocery shopping, these days there are a lot of options to get food packets delivered as well. You could go for this service but I do think you will save more money when you do the grocery shopping yourself! However it could be a great way to get to know new recipes and when you know them, you can start buying the ingredients yourself. These services can be an inspiration.
You could try making it more fun by allowing yourself a little splurge budget to buy something off the list. Or invite someone to do the shopping with you, like your mother or sister for example. You will probably lose some time efficiency this way.
Most people only have the weekends off so then I would recommend doing your weekly shopping on a Sunday (or Saturday). But if you have the chance to do it on a weekday, go for it! The stores are way less crowded which makes a better and more time-efficient grocery shopping experience.
You might also like: How to Save More Money on Groceries: 15 Tips for Spending Less
3. Meal Prepping
For some more productive Sunday habits, let’s talk about meal prepping! But what is meal prepping exactly?
Meal prepping is a way of preparing multiple meals, sometimes also bigger meals to divide them into separate portions so that you only have to unfreeze your freshly prepared meal on weekdays. It’s very convenient!
Since my college time isn’t that far behind me, I still use a lot of prepared meals that the stores provide me. When I have a busy day at work, I only have to heat them in the microwave or oven, easy!
The internet is full of blogs and articles with meal-prepping inspiration!
4. Outfit Planning
Your mornings will be more hectic when you haven’t planned the outfit for your day.
If you are a morning person who wakes up at 5 a.m. and has all the time in the world before everyone else wakes up, you can pick your outfit then. But if you are like me, it’s better to have it laid out in the morning to save some valuable time!
You can choose every outfit for the next week on Sunday or you could do it every evening before bedtime. Whatever you prefer. If you do it on Sunday, you can iron the needed clothes and hang them on hangers in your closet. This way you will only have to take them out every morning for the next week! It’s a time saver every morning!
5. Budgeting
Here we are again with the budgeting talk! You can find my post about budgeting for beginners right here.
Doing your budgeting routine every weekend helps you stay on top of your finances! You can choose to do it on Sunday or Saturday, as long as you do it one time every week! Make sure to pick a set day so it becomes part of your routine.
Every weekend, you can input your expenses from the past week in your budget planner, tracker, or app. This productive habit is best to do on a Sunday because then you already know all your expenses from the past week. This way you will know how much money there is left for the next week or weeks to spend. Very insightful! Did you go a little overboard or did you manage to save a lot this week?
Analyze your past week to do better or stay good for the upcoming week.
You might also like: How to use the 50/30/20 budgeting method for budgeting success
6. Cleaning
Cleaning isn’t the most fun task on this list, although it feels wonderful and refreshing when you’re done!
They say that you are more stressed when working and living in a mess and I find that to be true. When you clean and declutter on Sunday, you will start your week with a more relaxed and free mind.
Cleaning everything on Sunday seems a bit much to me, so I try to spread a few cleaning jobs over the week. You can plan for this!
There are a few steps to follow when it comes to cleaning. You first start with decluttering so there isn’t a mess when you have to vacuum or mop the floor. When you are decluttering, it is best to do one room at a time. When you are done decluttering, you can start vacuuming and after that, it’s time to mop the floor.
There are rooms that you should clean every week but you don’t have to clean the entire house every single week. Give yourself some rest.
Then there is laundry. I would spread it out over the weekend. Washing your clothes on Saturday and ironing and putting them away on Sunday.
Do it at your own pace and put on a good show or some music whilst doing it.
Check out my blog post about making a house chore list if you want to know which tasks you can include in your schedule.
7. Prepare for Work Projects
More productive Sunday habits if you have a side hustle or when you have to work after working hours. Make a to-do list of what you will have to accomplish next week for your work or personal projects.
For some projects, you may be able to prepare in advance. If you have a side hustle like blogging or selling stock photos or something else, it might be beneficial to schedule what you have to do during the week or already do some research. When you’ve done your research over the weekend, you can just start doing it during the week instead of wasting your time thinking about how to do it.
You can also work on your side hustle during the weekends and do the more boring parts so you can do the parts you enjoy on the weekdays. This way, when you are low on energy in the evenings after work, you can still manage to get something done because you enjoy it more!
Set your goals for the coming week and work towards them!
8. Yoga/Meditation/Relaxation
These don’t look like productive Sunday habits, but they are!
Unwinding the last day of your weekend is so important! You will enter the new work week reborn. This habit is all about relaxation and whatever it means to you.
I find practicing yoga pleasant and stretching it all out helps me regain some energy. It’s very good for your posture and your mental health as well! Yoga doesn’t have to be sweat-inducing (although it can be). There are so many different types of yoga, you can pick one that works for you. But for unwinding, it’s best to choose a slower kind of yoga. I found yoga through a YouTube channel that I can not recommend enough, Yoga With Adriene.
Yoga With Adriene will help you to relax and feel good about yourself in a matter of minutes. She has tons of good videos and she explains everything beginner-friendly. I go there regularly for back/neck and shoulder issues as well. I really do love her personality as well, and she is always accompanied by her lovely dog.
Other types of relaxation might be doing some meditation or taking a nice warm bath.
Reading a good book can also belong on this list!
Watching a good show to end your day is also a good option!
These productive Sunday habits may not be so time-saving right now, but you will reap benefits during the week!
Take some time to wind down before the work week starts again. You deserve it.
Feeling ready to tackle your week?
YES! Let’s start the work week with renewed and productive energy.
Try some or all of these habits and see for yourself how they can affect your week.
Do you have some tips to make it even more productive? Let me know in the comments.
Have a good Sunday and a nice week!