6 tips to start your week off well

6 tips to start your week off well

6 tips to start your week off well

We all know how hectic family life can be. From school and work commitments to after-school activities and housework – it can be difficult to find time for everything, let alone yourself!

But what if there was a way to make your life just that little bit easier? To take some of the stress and chaos out of your week, so that you can focus on the things that matter most to you?

Well, there is! And it starts with getting organised and prepared for the week ahead.

Here are some simple tasks you can do to ensure your week starts off well and that your future self will thank you for:

  1. Have a menu plan for the week. Yes, I love talking about menu planning but this is an activity that can have such a significant impact on a number of areas. It will help you save time, money, and the stress that comes from the dreaded “what’s for dinner?” from the kids when you have no idea what you are going to cook! By planning out your meals ahead of time, you can avoid last-minute trips to the shops and prevent impulse buys. Plus, you can take advantage of sales and discounts by knowing what you need to buy in advance. You can find my step by step menu planning process here – The Planning With Kids Menu Planning Process.
  2. Have an effective to-do list process to manage the tasks you need to complete for the week. This will help you focus on what’s important and make better decisions on where to spend your time. It also helps to avoid feeling overwhelmed because you have factored in all the key activities you need to do for the week, you know what is coming up and you know you have allocated time so you can get them done. I am old school when it comes to my to-do lists and just use pencil and paper but I do have a very specific approach to creating my to-do list to make sure it is effective and not just a huge overwhelming list of things to do which you find here – Why paper to do lists work for me
  3. Review your calendar. This will help you avoid overbooking yourself and ensure that you’re prepared for anything that’s coming up. Look for what’s coming up in the week ahead first and then take a look at what’s coming up in the next few weeks. See if there’s anything that you need to prepare for, such as a big project at work or a family trip. If so, add those items to your to-do list and then you’re not stressed when the time comes as you are ready for it!
  4. Have food prepared for the kids’ lunches. This makes it easier for the kids to make their lunches if they get them ready themselves and if you are making the lunches for the kids it saves you time and ensures that your kids are eating well. Each weekend I prepare some savoury and sweet lunch box items ready to go for the week. You can see what my prep for kids’ lunches looks like here – My family meal prep sessions – ideas to help make daily life easier
  5. Have a simplified wardrobe. This has been one of the best things I have done to help reduce the amount of time I spend thinking about what to wear. By streamlining your clothing options, it makes it so much easier to choose an outfit. And looking at a simplified wardrobe is a much more calming start to the day than looking at one that is overfull and messy. You can see how I simplified my wardrobe in this post here – How to simplify your wardrobe.
  6. Have simple morning routines for the kids. Investing time to set up routines for the kids saves you so much time and mental energy over the long run and is one of the best ways to make sure you can get everyone out of the house on time. You can see the routines we have established for our kids at varying ages here – Children’s Routines.

If you want to get these routines & processes in place but would like some guidance to get started then sign up for this next round of Planned + Present – a 7 week online course, designed specifically to help streamline the repetitive tasks of family life and set you up with the best chance of a great week.

There are two ways that you can take the course. There is the Self Paced option for $49 and a Guided option for $79 including a supportive Facebook Group with weekly Facebook Lives. Both options include weekly emails and lifetime access to the course. The Guided group led by me kicks off on Monday 10th October. 

Sign up now to get organised, be more present, and get 7 weeks of help from me!