Use Themed “Days of the Week” to be more productive
There are days when you likely feel like you have 1,437,392 things to do - amiright?!
I know I can’t be the only one out there that feels like the “to-dos” of life can begin to take over every spare moment you’ve ever dreamed of!
Sometimes the overwhelming feeling all those “to-dos” give you can leave you completely paralyzed as to where to start. let alone stay on top of the list.
But I’m here to tell you, as a mom to 5, it’s totally possible to handle your daily tasks & to-dos. And not feel like a crazy-exhausted mess at the end of the day.
So how exactly can you be productive as a busy mom???
By giving every day of your week a theme.
What I mean is, one day might be your laundry day, while another is your paperwork day, and another you run errands, and so on.
Here is an example of what my week looks like, along with the tasks that I try to do...
Monday: Planning Day
I like to take Monday’s to plan out the week. While I realize most people would do this on Sunday, Monday works for me so that Sunday can be left for time with my people. If you are a working mom, you can still choose which day to do this - you'll just need to be sure to adjust your other days to work with your schedule.
- Menu Planning
- “Grocery shopping” (I LOVE to grocery shop online!!*click to get $10 off your first order!!*)
- Errand planning (I figure out what errands I need to run on errand day)
Tuesday: Errand Day
Because I am usually up & ready, and out the door early taking kids to school on Tuesdays, I like to just get all the things I need to take care out of the way quickly!
Tuesdays work best for me for running all the errands!
- pick up groceries
- take donation items
- pick up supplies for blog/business
- any other errands I can think of
Wednesday: Home Blessing Hour (Cleaning)
This is adapted from Flylady.net - she really has a great system for cleaning. And I think it can even be doable for busy families, which is pretty amazing!!
I’ve included an app for her cleaning routines on my List of Favorite Apps for Busy Moms.
Basically, there are 6-7 tasks that you take an hour to complete. So, roughly 8-10 minutes per task. These cleaning tasks are generally things you aren’t doing every single day. Such as:
- dusting
- vacuuming
- mopping
- cleaning mirrors
- emptying the trash
- changing sheets
and so on. These are examples of what I do - but you could totally create your own version of this doing the tasks you see fit.
**Note - If something on this list is already clean or doesn't need to be addressed, SKIP IT! No need to do something not necessary!!
Thursday: Paperwork day
We all have a daily influx of paper, and it’s important to schedule a time to just deal with it (even if I don’t feel like it!!). Thursday’s are the day that works best for that!
The paperwork items I tackle on Thursday’s include:
- paying bills
- balancing checkbook & budget
- sorting through short-term files**
- long-term filing**
- Anything else that needs review or to be dealt with from my short term files.
**Check out My Favorite Products Recommendation page for Filing!!**
Friday: "Other"
This could include organizing or other projects, working on my website or Etsy shop or sometimes going on a day date with the hubs🙌🏻!
Friday’s are more about catching up on items I wasn't able to get to earlier in the week, or just doing things I WANT to do, not necessarily NEED to do!
Giving each day of the week a theme or plan can help you create some focus and motivation for your day, without stressing out about all the “other stuff you have to do”. And because you already have a day set aside for those other to-dos!!
Creating a weekly schedule and daily routine becomes SO MUCH EASIER when each day already has a "theme"! Add these items into a block schedule and your productivity will skyrocket! You'll be surprised by what you can get done within your time blocks and on each themed day of your weekly plan.
Think about what you need to accomplish each week. What are your “themes” going to be??
Before you know it you’ll be enjoying your coffee hot again!!