This Sunday Routine Helps Me Beat the Sunday Scaries

Create a calm, productive week with this Sunday routine—6 simple habits to reset, plan ahead and feel more organised before Monday hits.

60 minutes on Sunday can save your week.

And I don’t mean the TV show.

I’m a big believer in Sunday being a day of rest. Time with the family. Time to read a book or go to the beach.

But if I don’t spend at least 60 minutes on a Sunday preparing for the week ahead, I’m starting on the back foot. And the week ahead can end up chaotic.

60 minutes can be the difference between a frazzled week and a calm week.

The difference between a frugal week and a week where I’m grabbing takeaway or other expensive conveniences because I wasn’t prepared.

Below are six things I do on Sunday to help me be physically, mentally and emotionally prepared for a busy (it seems like it’s always busy) week ahead.

6 Things I Do On Sunday to Start the Week Off Right

1. The Weekly Review

A weekly review is a game changer when it comes to quelling the chaos and making your time more intentional.

My weekly review has changed and evolved over the years – sometimes, it’s been more in-depth, involving a reflection of the past week.

Other times (including right now as I type this), it’s a more pared-down process that is less reflective and more about survival mode.

Either way, it usually involves a cup of tea and:

• Checking the calendar for upcoming commitments
• Checking emails and other communication channels for anything that needs actioning or scheduling (do I need to fill out a school permission slip? Respond to an email? Remember to get food to ‘take a plate’ for Guide night?)
• Meal planning and a quick grocery audit (see below)
• Reviewing my goals and planning some baby steps towards them

This whole process usually takes about half an hour. I rely heavily on Google Calendar and Todoist to help me keep track of events and tasks, so it’s all out of my head and there to remind me at the right time.

This is also a good time to sync schedules. Who has to be where and when during the week? 

We sync Google Calendar across our devices (including my teen’s devices) and spend a couple of minutes going over the week and making sure everyone knows the schedule.

I’m not always consistent with my goals because life is busy and energy ebbs and flows, but I try to schedule time to work on them, whether it’s a gym session, doing a lesson on a course I’m studying, or setting aside some time to read a book.

Apparently, the most successful people set goals, create an action plan to reach those goals, and then schedule when they are going to do those actions. I would not call myself successful – more a wannabe who is working towards taking consistent steps towards my goals. I use my short Sunday planning session to help.

To do this, I check the goals I’ve set at the beginning of the quarter, then decide what baby steps I can take towards them.

And, just as importantly, I try to schedule when and how I will get these done. I try to book time on the calendar to do them (keeping that appointment, however, is another thing altogether!).

2. Prep Your Stuff

Does this sound like a typical Monday morning:

“Where’s your lunchbox…ugh! What’s that mouldy thing? I have to iron a work shirt; your school uniform’s in the wash basket…we’re running late; get out the door!”

I can’t tell you how many busy mornings we’ve had when someone can’t find socks, someone else has a grotty lunchbox they forgot to unpack on Friday, and we’re late out the door because we’re digging through the piles of clean clothes at the last minute.

That doesn’t mean I want to spend all Sunday getting ready for the week ahead. Because that would suck – I’d rather be reading, sewing, or watching the sunset over the ocean.

But a few minutes of ironing, setting out clothes, organising bags and lunch boxes, and making sure homework is ready and packed makes Monday morning so much calmer.

And a calm Monday morning sets the tone for the whole week to come.

The bit that makes Monday easier without it taking over your Sunday is delegating. Yeah, nagging kids to help is not fun.

However, teaching kids time-management tips lays the foundation for great future habits and empowers them to be self-sufficient.

At least, this is what I keep telling myself.

3. Food Prep (No, You Don’t Need to Prep a Week’s Worth of Meals!)

You don’t have to spend all week batch cooking to get ahead in the kitchen!

Honestly, that’s the last thing I want to do on Sunday.

(But if that’s your jam, that’s great too!)

But, for me, at least, I find it easier to avoid takeaway and other expensive, last-minute conveniences if I spend some time planning meals for the week ahead as part of my weekly review and maybe prepping some things ahead of time.

1. Meal Plan For the Week

I use a simple meal plan, and this task should take about 5 minutes.

I do a quick grocery audit for things that might need replenishing (rice, oats, frozen beans, etc.), check what needs to be used up, think about school and work lunches, and then write a meal plan and shopping list.

2. Do a Quick Shop

I do my full shop online on Wednesdays, but on Sunday, I do a quick shop for things like bread, salad, fruit, milk, etc., as needed to keep us going between full shops and ensure we have fresh food on hand for school and work lunches.

(TBH, I often delegate this task to hubby, or we walk the dog to the dog park, which is right next door to Woolies, and pick up ‘a few things’ on the way home.

One of the nicest ways to incorporate grocery shopping into a lazy Sunday is taking the family to the local farmer’s markets to enjoy a stroll in the sun while getting what you need. I volunteer at my local markets, so sometimes, I pick up some fresh produce before coming home.

But if you prefer not to spend Sundays shopping at all, online grocery shopping can be a godsend. I love doing our grocery shop online for convenience and to watch what we spend. If you’d rather not pay a delivery fee, choose click-and-collect to save.

Grocery shopping is then a 10-minute task. In your pjs. While drinking a cuppa for the win.

3. Prep Ahead

Having done a menu plan, it can help lighten the load by cutting some veggies up for easy dinners during the week.

While meal prepping is popular, I don’t want to spend Sundays in the kitchen. But I can spend 10 minutes preparing vegetables while I’m cooking Sunday’s dinner. This keeps time in the kitchen to a minimum.

Also, a batch of muffins for lunchboxes takes about 15 minutes to throw together. If I’m in the kitchen making dinner anyway, throwing a batch in the oven will save time and money during the week.

4. Spend Quality Time with Loved Ones

As an introvert, sometimes it’s hard to admit this out loud, but quality time with friends and family can make all the difference to our well-being. It’s what makes life the good life.

It brings a family closer together; it fills our buckets for the coming week; it nurtures our souls. Kids thrive on quality attention – it fills their bucket, too, and helps them cope with the week ahead.

Too often, however, time spent with others involves a screen or “my precious”, as I refer to the smartphones in our household. I’m guilty of spending way too much time on devices.

When we’re tired, we want to zone out and relax, and a screen offers the perfect escape. Netflix, here I come!

But while enjoyable in the moment, it can leave us feeling flat and restless, not content and happy.

Instead, looking for moments of flow, where you get caught up in something creative, can be much more fulfilling. Talking to family and friends and partaking in something recreational creates memories and happiness.

Play a board game. Going for a hike in nature. Taking an art class. Baking muffins together (doubly productive!).

Finding things to do together is a great way to spend Sundays.

5. Count My Blessings

To say I have a negativity bias would be an understatement.

Let’s just say I’m primed for the worst, which can be great for prepping ahead but not so great for seeing the silver linings.

So, I try to get in a better frame of mind by counting my blessings, even if it’s just being grateful for coffee.

I’m often grateful for coffee.

It sounds cliche, especially if life is particularly horrid at the moment.

And counting your blessings doesn’t change reality. Horrid things are still horrid.

Looking for blessings can sometimes help us cope with the horrid stuff.

So, it can be a great practice to spend a few minutes on Sunday (usually with coffee or a cup of tea at night) counting my blessings and acknowledging the good things that happened during the week.

For a whole year, I kept a journal (right now, for better or worse, I’m experimenting with AI).

Studies indicate keeping a journal benefits many areas of your life. It’s healing. It enhances creativity. It reduces stress.

But I find it particularly helpful for reflecting on things and self-awareness.

Another option is spending time meditating. I’ve tried this, too, with varying degrees of success.

I signed up for the Headspace meditation app for one year (no affiliation; I just like it), and it has had a positive impact when I used it. You can get the introductory series of meditations for free, and you can take them over and over (which is what I did) if you don’t want to subscribe.

6. Hit the Sack Early with a Calming Bedtime Routine

While it’s tempting to keep the weekend going by staying up late, this strategy can be detrimental to work and relationships in the long run.

Just one episode of Tracker. Just one more chapter. Just five more minutes of doom-scrolling Instagram.

Yep, the temptation is strong when it’s bedtime, and you don’t want the weekend to end.

A good day starts the night before with a reasonable bedtime. And just like kids sleep better with a good bedtime routine, so too can adults. There’s a ton of research about sleep – I find the hardest part is parting with the devices and heeding that advice.

According to Harvard Medical School, consistent sleep routines improve everything from immune function to focus.

(You can also check out books written on sleep research. I’ve read Sleep Smarter and Why We Sleep, both Amazon links. And I find non-fiction can be good to read while I’m trying to get to sleep…and when I’m not trying to get to sleep).

It’s different for everyone, but for me, dim lights, a cool room, quiet, and a good book send me off to sleepytime like nothing else.

(But not warm drinks, because at my age, that means midnight trips to the bathroom.)

Even if you suffer from broken sleep (I struggle with insomnia, which is probably why I value sleep so much – I never get enough!), an early night can mitigate the damage somewhat.

By taking 60 minutes out of your weekend to plan and prepare for the upcoming week, and then focusing on filling your bucket with quality time with yourself, family or friends, spending time in nature or engaging in your passion(and getting enough sleep), you’ll be set for a better week to come.

What’s one thing you do on Sunday to prep for the week? Share in the comments!