Happy Monday! The start of a new week with new goals and crazy schedules. If you're like me you're still recovering from your weekend filled with get togethers, cleaning, shopping and more {perhaps your kids schedules or birthday parties or weekend work shifts} . So, when Sunday night rolls around, you just want to rest. Rest your mind, rest your body....just rest. I get it. And I'm the same way. However, we all know Sunday evening quickly turns into Monday morning and we all end up scrambling to get ourselves together for the week ahead.
If you're like me, and this sounds like what typically happens in your household, then check out some simple tips that I have found make all the difference for the upcoming week.
STEP 1: MAKE A LIST OF YOUR MEALS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
Now, you don't have to necessarily be a meal "planner" {although I highly recommend it} in order to make this successfully happen. All you need to do is make a quick list of your favorite dinners, and maybe a new recipe you'd like to try. You could do this while lying in bed before you hit the sack. Jot down the meals you'd like to have this week and then you can edit your grocery list from there. Now, if you grocery shop on Sundays, you'll need to do this prior to grocery shopping to be most effective! It's so much easier working from a meal plan to create your grocery list than it is to go into the store blind.
Having a plan for dinner for the week makes such a HUGE difference in the structure, flow and outcome of your week! When you're running kids from soccer to piano, hitting the gym and rushing in to get dinner made having a pre-determined plan always saves time, stress and energy. This is also one of the number one ways to eat out less, consume less calories and lose weight. AND, less trips to the grocery store! It's truly a no brainer!
TIP 2: Thaw the night before
Set an alarm on your phone to give you a gentle reminder to take the meat out of the freezer before you head to bed. That way, the next day you aren't scrambling around trying to figure out how to thaw your meat faster or run to the store to get fresh. Begin getting into the habit of the same steps each night. Maybe you move it into the fridge before you make that evening's dinner. Maybe you do it immediately after dinner before clean up. Or maybe it's right before you go to bed. Set an alarm until it becomes an engrained habit. This will eliminate additional unnecessary stress from your day! TIP 3: Have a Back Up Have you ever skipped your workout because you forgot you gym shoes at home? This happens to a lot of people. And once you head home to get your shoes, it's really difficult to motivate yourself to leave the house. Then you wind up missing your workout altogether -- and when this happens time after time, you wind up back at square one. Do yourself a favor and eliminate the potential for excuses. Grab an old gym bag and throw a backup outfit, shoes, socks and the other essentials in it to be prepared incase you forget your gym clothes at home. Eliminate the excuses from your life and you will see results faster and be more likely to stick to your workout program!
TIP 4: Set Your Priority Tasks
Writing down and deciding what your 3 major priorities are for the day will help you to weed out all of the extra unnecessary distractions. When you dial in on the MAJOR 3, you will find yourself more focused and productive! These 3 things should be main pieces that need done within that day. Then you can break each major task into smaller tasks that don't seem as daunting. It's amazing how much clarity you have when you focus on the smaller tasks to complete your bigger task. Remember, the first step is getting started! Write them down! Tip 5: UNPLUG
This is particularly hard for me to do because my fitness business is primarily ran online! Managing clients, accountability groups, LIVE class listings, responding to emails and messages with questions and just continually offering valuable information for my followers! It's really tough for me to unplug. I like being able to see what my friends and family are up too and nothing is easier than the social media platforms that deliver it instantly to us 24/7. However, your brain needs a break. Your eyes need to look at the green grass, blue sky, and other faces right in front of you. This is more than just a "tech" break -- it's a mental break. It's important for you to have offline hours built into your day. Wether it's dinner time, bedtime, lunchtime...whatever works for you. But be sure to have this built into your day so that you can enjoy life happening right around you. Work hours don't count. Unplug during a time when you are resting. A time you can really dial into something other than your phone or a work task. You'll feel more calm, less stressed and more energized when you take a "break" from technology!
Tip 6: Brain Dump
This is a tip I've learned from my amazing day planner. It has a section built right in where you can jot down the scattered and crazy to-do lists that you're trying to formulate in your brain. Getting these thoughts down on paper helps you stay focused on the task you're currently trying to complete. You can write it down and then open up that mental real estate for current thoughts that need to be focused on! Take 10 minutes in the middle of your day to do this and then move on with what needs to be done!
Try implementing a few of these tips each day to gain more clarity and focus in this week! You'll begin noticing, as these things become habits, that you're less stressed and have more structure throughout your week -- which will certainly help eliminate chaos in your household! I hope they are as effective for you as they are for me!