5 Tips to Plan a Productive & Supercharged Week on Sunday

6 years —that’s how long I’ve been working from home. And that’s almost how long it took me to figure out how to plan a productive week. It seems like a totally simple thing to do, yet when you sit down to do it, it’s hard to know where to start.

I was always completely confused about how people could plan out their entire week. How do you know what to do? How do you know how to use your time? 

I’m happy to say, I’ve finally figured it out.

Why plan your week in the first place?

We all need some structure in our lives. When you have someplace to be every day, like school or work, that structure is built-in.

I took that structure for granted. Once I started working from home, and especially when I started working full-time in my business, it was easy to get sidetracked.

Without a plan for your time, you end up chasing squirrels or going down rabbit holes. Two hours later, you’re not sure how you ended up on Target’s website with a cart full of stuff.

I’ve found that I can keep myself focused and heading in the right direction by structuring my week.

And that all starts with planning your week on Sunday.

I’ve identified 5 tips to plan a productive & supercharged week.

01. Review your goals

Each week I review the goals I set for the month. My goals are like a compass pointing me north. Without them, I wouldn’t know what I should focus on during the week.

I use the Powersheets from Cultivate What Matters to break my goals into smaller pieces on my monthly Tending List. And each piece is an action item that I can take care of throughout the week.

02. Brain dump

Do you know how when you have so many things to do it feels like your brain might explode?

This is where you need to do a brain dump.

As you get ready to figure out what to do during the week, write down every single thing you can think of —from eating lunch to doing research for that project on your goals list.

Once it’s all laid out in front of you, you cross out what’s not important and highlight the things that are.

03. Plan with a planner

Maybe you like digital planners but I’m a pen-to-paper kind of girl.

I keep my planner open on my desk all day as I work so I stay on track. I add small reminders about smaller things to take care of throughout the day as well.

I’ve been using Day Designer for 2 years now, and I can’t see myself switching anytime soon. The layout allows me to create a schedule, and a to-do list, and decide my top 3 priorities for each day.

Find out if Day Designer planners will work for you by checking them out here.

04. Schedule regularly occurring events

If one of your goals has been to eat regular meals or exercise, put them on your schedule to give structure to your day.

These types of events or activities will break your day into mornings and afternoons. (Just like when you were in school.) 

Plan to do the activities you need the most brainpower and energy for during your prime hours before or after lunch.

05. Plan during your prime hours

I don’t like to work on Sundays. But planning my week on Sunday morning has become a necessity.

I get up early so I can have quiet time in my office to do these tasks to plan my week. Mornings are my prime hours for brainpower and energy, so I can think through my week logically.

Spending an hour doing this on Sunday morning frees up my day. Instead of thinking about work and everything I have to do during the week, I can actually enjoy my Sunday.

Once Monday comes around, I’m rested and ready to take on all the tasks I planned for the week.

To recap, these are 5 tips to plan a productive week:

1. Review your goals
2. Brain dump
3. Use a planner
4. Recurring events/activities
5. Plan during prime hours

Here’s how you can get started planning your week:

• Find a quiet time on Sunday to sit down and plan.
• Choose a couple of goals you’d like to work on.
• Do your brain dump, then add all your tasks, events, and activities to your planner.