5 Tips for a less stressful week
Create a To Do List for the Upcoming Week:
This is something that many people do on a Friday afternoon or Sunday afternoon. The advantage of doing this on a Friday or Sunday is that your energy will most likely be higher. It’s also a small action that will make you feel so much more confident when Monday morning comes around.
Another benefit is that having a list ahead of time means that you can dive right into your work on Monday rather than spending time figuring out what needs to get done.
Make Sunday a True Day of Rest:
Most of us don’t unplug often enough. But, using Sunday to really relax and do activities that you enjoy means that your mind and body will feel more refreshed and ready to work on Monday. Whether it means going for a long walk or spending a few hours away from your phone or computer, make sure to build in at least a few hours of relaxation.
Choose Your Outfits for the Upcoming Week:
If you’re not a morning person (like me) then you’ll probably agree that you want to make as few decisions as possible when you first wake up. For me, this looks like spending 5-10 minutes on Sunday night choosing my outfits for the week.
First, grab your phone and check the weather for the week. Then, choose your clothes. I also try to choose something for Monday that’s either really comfortable or something that I love wearing. If you love what you’re wearing it makes it so much easier to want to get up and start the day.
Create a Meal Plan for the Week:
I usually do this on Thursday and then do my actual grocery shopping on Saturday night. However, you can do whatever works best for you. The point here is to have a list of meals on your refrigerator so that when the week comes around you never have to worry about what you are going to make.
I also try to schedule more time-consuming meals for my least busy evening. Then, I make enough to have leftovers for a day or two on the busier evenings. This will lead to a less stressful week overall.
Build In as Many Habits/Systems as You Can:
You can probably tell from this list that I love habits and systems. I’m not advocating that you have habits for everything. However, I do think that at least having a system in place for the things that you find stressful can prevent a lot of future worrying. For example, for many women, laundry is a constant stress because you know it needs to be done but you’re never sure when you’ll have time to do it. I suggest allocating a single day each week for laundry. I do this on Sunday morning/afternoon. For me, I never worry about when the laundry will get done because I know it will happen on Sunday. If a single day doesn’t seem reasonable for you then pick specific days (hopefully your least busy days) and commit to only doing laundry on those days.
Bonus Tip: What if my habits fail? With all of my habits and systems I have created the +1 rule. The +1 Rule means that if something big comes up and prevents me from following through with a habit I automatically roll it over to the next day.
For example, lets say I feel sick on Monday evening and skip my yoga practice. Then I know that I will make it up on Tuesday night. If you happen to be busy on the next evening then roll it over to the first available time.
What about you? What is your favorite way to create a Less Stressful Week?
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