Mondays suck. Let’s face it. One thing I have been trying to be mindful of lately is my Sunday routine. I actually prefer ‘chill day’ over Sunday Funday. God, how much more does Monday suck with a hangover! Here are some helpful habits I use that may help your Monday suck less, and your week be more productive with only a little planning.
Meal prep the easy way.
You will never find me spending an entire day in the kitchen trying to prepare all my food for the week. Nope, that’s Cabernet’s department. (See her post coming soon!) But what I have started doing is PLANNING my meals for the week and ordering my groceries. Yes, curbside pickup is a GOD send! I usually do this right after I get up and am having my cups of coffee while lying on the couch. I have tried so many different approaches to meal planning and I find, as with many things in life, it’s best to keep it simple, stupid. I try to plan 5 meals for the week and stay in my comfort zone. I have three kids and do not get home until 5:30pm so I do not have time to get all Julia Childs. My staple five categories: fish, roasted chicken and veggies, rotating basic (tacos, spaghetti, sliders, etc), crockpot and something new, that’s my template. Now I just fill in the blanks. For the “something new” I dive into Pinterest and see what looks good and doesn’t take a Bachelor’s Degree to cook. I also make sure I have what i need for kid’s lunches and mine. I look like the bag lady rolling into the office on Monday mornings but I find it works best for me to have all of my snacks and lunches for the entire week on hand. That way if I don’t feel like eating what I planned to eat Monday, I can eat something else I brought and avoid the $20 cost of eating out spontaneously.
Review your calendar
I start reviewing my calendar as I am meal planning. This way if I have something to do after work and cannot be home to cook dinner, I can plan that night to be crock-pot or basic (so my husband can cook it). This also helps me mentally prepare for a week that might be a little more hectic than others. My husband and I use Google calendars so we can share with each other. I love that I can make separate calendars for work, PTA, HOA, etc. They all show up as a different color so it helps me stay organized. I also go into my calendar and create any reminders. I clearly have to have reminders for reminders! Like if I signed up for cupcakes for class party on Thursday, I will have a reminder for Tuesday or Wednesday to GO BUY CUPCAKES FOR CLASS PARTY! Otherwise, I.will.forget.
Laundry and master bedroom cleaned
I try to stay on top of washing and drying during the week. Notice, I didn’t say getting it put away! I try but I always have a night where I say F-it! and end up with a load on “the chair” (you know you have one,too!) By Sunday, I usually have 2-3 loads that need to be washed and another 1-2 that’s piled up. I try to get this shit knocked out quick! I will take a load to the wash as I’m brushing my teeth. The earlier in the day I can begin this task, the more likely I am to still have some energy to get it all put up. I also have discovered I sleep SO much better and wake up in a better mood when my bedroom is clean. Like clean, clean. Dusted, vacuumed, EVERYTHING off the ground (kids baby dolls, dinos, trash, hangers-my kids are slobs. It’s a work in progress.) and topped off with a lavender scented spray! I fall into bed feeling so much more relaxed and less anxious.
Self-Care
My favorite Sundays are the ones where I never put on a drop of makeup! Those of the days where I am not leaving the house; which means it’s easy for me to throw on a facemask while doing laundry or meal planning. Multi-tasking is life! Spend some time with yourself in the mirror. Catch up on plucking, self-tanning, nail polish, exfoliation, hair mask, teeth whitening…whatever!! Just spend some time on YOU.
Brain Dump
This is something I am very new to executing but I really LOVE it. I really need to put a little notebook next to my bed BUT since my kids will go all Pablo Picasso on my walls if I leave a pen and paper in their reach, I stick to using a Note application on my phone. I use either Google Keep or Samsung Notes (because I like to write notes in my handwriting). I have started brain dumping at night because as soon as I lay my head down is when all the thoughts start to flood my mind. An easy way to give this a shot in your life is to start it on a Sunday. Write out anything you need to get done or don’t want to forget. This allows you to chill out so you are not stressing about forgetting. You can prioritize what’s on your list the next day but it definitely helps take a load off to just get it down on “paper”.
So I hope these ideas help you conquer the upcoming week and GSD (get shit done)! If you have any other Sunday routines you would like to share, please do!! I am always up for trying something that could make a difference in my quality of life!
-PBJ
PBJ and Cabernet 