5 ways to streamline your week

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january 2021

With each passing year, the expression: ‘the days are long, but the years are short’, rings more and more true for us. The days are often grinding and long filled with appointments, meetings, juggling schedules, and taking care of house responsibilities.

It’s easy to feel like you can never get caught up.

Striving to feel less chaotic and more organized, here are 5 tips to streamline your week. 

meal plan

photo credit: design 2 order

Have you ever gotten to the end of a long workday and had no idea what’s for dinner? You end up ordering take-out or throwing together some frozen meal.

Setting up a weekly meal plan, grocery shopping according to the plan, and, if you’re really ambitious, you can do some meal prep on the weekend. It will take the stress out of dinner during the week.

We started doing this a couple of years ago and it has been life-changing (ok, that sounds dramatic - but it is)! We love using the Evernote app to make a checklist for the grocery store. We list the meals we will have for the week at the top and then list all the items we need to buy below in a checklist. We also break down the list by the way we proceed through the store. For example: produce first, then frozen meats and refrigerated meats, etc. We keep the same list week to week (duplicate it and rename it by date) and vary the items needed, according to the weekly meal plan. This system takes a little preparation but saves SO MUCH time during the week. It also helps us to stay on track with healthy eating habits … WIN-WIN!

If meal planning is overwhelming, sign-up with a meal-kit company and let them handle the planning. 

organize the night before

photo credit: canva

There is nothing worse than starting your day off in a chaotic scramble (keeping it real, we’ve been there).

Organizing everything you need the night before sets you up for a successful start to the day. Laying out clothes, packing lunches and bags for all family members, meal planning breakfast, getting the coffee ready to brew are all steps that create a more peaceful morning.

Establishing a solid nighttime routine gets the day off to a clear-minded start. 

specific days/specific tasks

photo credit: timetimer.com

Set-up a schedule for the week. Include the main responsibilities that need to get done at home and at work during the week ahead. Plan specific days for specific tasks, for example, Tuesday is laundry day and Saturday is grocery shopping.

If at work you wear many hats, plan out time each week for administrative work, business development, financial/bookkeeping, and meeting times. Block time out (‘time blocking’) during the day for these specific tasks. You can stay on task by using a ‘time timer’ (a visual analog timer). You will stay more focused and be able to get more done if you are not switching back and forth between many tasks.

Having established days/times for specific jobs both at home and at work sets a clear plan for the week and streamlines your process, making you more efficient. 

make lists

photo credit: canva

We can’t overstate the power of lists (love, love, love lists). Not only is a list a chance to organize your thoughts and tasks, but it also offers the opportunity to reflect on the week (or day) and all that you’ve accomplished.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all that has to get done, but when you visually see the progress you made over the week, your stress level instantly goes down.

Completed something that wasn’t on the list initially? Add it to the list anyway and cross it off immediately! Look at the progress! 

just say “no”

photo credit: canva

This is the hardest thing for us and we’re sure it’s hard for many of you!

The fear of letting someone down or missing out on an experience or opportunity often drives us to say “yes” all of the time, even when it’s not in our best interest.

Not setting appropriate boundaries and limits on your time sets you up for more stress and less fulfillment. Focus on what makes you happy, what helps you meet your goals, both personally and professionally, and what works with your time constraints and calendar. If the request doesn’t fit in these areas, is okay to just say “no.”