If you’re anything like me, your weekdays are jam packed. Yet, the LAST thing I want to do during the weekend is a list full of chores. Instead of trying to do EVERYTHING during the weekend, I commit to doing the 8 things that I believe will help make the upcoming workweek smoother. Some weekends I tackle these things right away Friday night or Saturday morning. Other weeks these get done Sunday evening right before I go to bed. Either way, I know this list is pretty obtainable, even when my weekends are busy. It also sets me up for a more productive workweek.
1 Calendar
Before you even think of diving in to laundry or heading to the grocery store, you should take time to review your calendar for the upcoming week (AND the following week). In order to prepare for the week to come, you’ve got to know what’s going on! As I look at my upcoming week, I’m searching for days & blocks of time where I can get a little bit more done and days that I have TOO much going on and need to reprioritize. Are there any events that I’m going to where I’ll need to bring food? Do I have a big presentation at work that I need to spend an evening preparing for? I also take a couple minutes to confirm all my appointments, dinners, etc.
2 Food
Now that I know what’s going on this upcoming week, I’m ready to plan my meals for the week! Even before I start a grocerylist, I look through our fridge and toss anything that’s expired or questionable. I started doing this after one TOO many times of thinking that a food item in the fridge was edible only to find out it expired several months ago (I know, it’s gross).
Based on what’s going on this coming week, I can easily figure out what meals I want to make and any food items I need to buy for social events. I keep a standard grocery list of running items I want to make sure we always have (baking soda, olive oil, etc), Doing a quick scan to see if we’re running low on any of those items as well as all the ingredients I need for the meals I picked out for this week, I complete my list.
Now with grocery list in hand I head to the grocery store … EARLY! Saturday morning is my preferred time. By this time most grocery stores have stocked up for the weekend so everything is fresh. Plus just as you’re likely thinking now .. Who goes to the grocery store on Saturday mornings? That’s right. Groceries stores are pretty much empty which makes shopping SO much easier!
BONUS reading: Easy Lunch Prep Station
3 Email
Like most of us, I’m on email all the time. But unlike some, I get overly obsessive with keeping my email organized. I keep two folders in my Gmail account that I check weekly: “waiting to hear back”, which are any emails I’ve sent others that I need a response from in order to get something done & “to do later”, which is exactly what it sounds like :). In addition to cleaning out my inbox weekly, reviewing these two folders helps prompt to-do list items.
BONUS reading: 7 Gmail Hacks That Will Change Your Life
4 Laundry
After too many week day mornings of looking for an outfit only to realize it’s dirty in the hamper, I committed to doing laundry on the weekends. In fact, I put a load in right before I go to the grocery store on Saturday mornings. For those weekends that I don’t have enough dirty clothes to do a full load, I make sure I sort my laundry (whites, colors, delicates). I also throw in a load of sheets. Anything I can do to prevent our laundry situation from going crazy, I’ll do!
BONUS reading: Why I LOVE My Laundry Room
5 Garbage
This is a super duper easy one, but I find it makes life easier during the week. I empty out all our trash bins throughout our house and get the trash ready for pick up day. It’s amazing how quickly the small trash bins around our house can fill up!
6 Clothes
Anyone else have clothes laying around your room that you just didn’t have time to hang up in your closet? Story of our lives. I take a couple minutes to pick everything up and put our closet back in order.
Then once our dirty laundry is done and put away, I pick out all my outfits for the week. Make sure to check the weather forecast as you’re doing this! It’s so much easier for me to do this at one time instead of each morning when I’m rushing out of the house. I do the same for gym clothes, as I try to prevent ANY excuse I know I’ll come up with to not work out.
BONUS reading: Organize Your Clothes with Labels Outfit Labels
7 To Do List
Not only do I go through my to-do list and reprioritize the tasks as needed, I also spend about 10 minutes just brainstorming any projects or things I need to get done the following week. I literally try to empty out ANYTHING that’s on my mind, but not written down. I’m a strong believer that if it’s not written down I won’t remember it (which means I won’t do it)!
BONUS reading: Top 10 Things Organized People Do Regularly
8 Junk Bin
We’ve all got these in our home. If you’re like me, you have MANY of these! Weekdays are often so busy for us, that it’s easier to just throw our ‘junk’ in a basket as opposed to putting everything in it’s correct space. I know some fellow professional organizers would disagree, but sometimes life’s too busy to be organized all the time! But, I don’t let these bins get out of control. EVER. The easiest way to ensure this is to empty them on a weekly basis!
BONUS reading: The ONE Item That Keeps Our House Clutter FREE
I hope these tips & tricks help you get AND stay organized each week!
Brandi Kimbelry says
Thank you for sharing your ideas! I need some organization in my weekends. I am always not ready for the week!!!
-Brandi K
Sandy KS says
What a great list to get your week started!! I do my week a bit different. Only because I like to relax on Sundays and spend time with family.
Roseann Hampton says
Great ideas to stay more organized!
Janae says
Wow really awesome tips! I find myself dreading to do laundry only because I have to load up the car and head to the laundry mat! I love how organized you are! I could really learn some new tips here!