If you want to have a successful week, you need to set it up right. You need to prepare and plan for it. You need to be thoughtful and thorough about it. And the best way to do that? Through this post of specific things to do on a Sunday!
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Because how you spend your time matters and I’ve found Sunday to be an incredibly useful, but highly underutilized, day for man
In fact, this post shows you:
Why Sunday may just be the most important day of the week
How you can take advantage of it to be that much more productive in the days ahead
Every Sunday I get organized and plan out my week. I sit down, normally around four or five in the afternoon, and manage the various aspects of my life.
I have a handful of Google Docs and Google Sheets that track things like my:
Finances: I use this in tandem with Mint
Health: My caloric intake, sleep tracking, etc.
Housing: Renovations/Repairs that need to get done around the home
Baby: Things that my wife and I need to do in preparation for our soon-arriving little one
Work: Tasks that I need to do and plan for with my day-job
QuickBooost: My plan of attack for the week with QuickBooost (the site that you’re on right now)
Schedule: Factoring everything in, I create a schedule for the week that also includes items from my calendar, Bullet Journal, and other misc Google Docs.
Note: Finances in excel
Health in word and excel
Marvin in Gsheet shared with Pat and Keller
Work - tasks in Todoist and synced to excel; projects in excel; status reports in word; code on git; issues and milestone in ghub + docs + excel; meetings
“Freelance” - plan of attack for non-OW development work
Additionally, because things change throughout the week, I’ll also run through this process again each afternoon
However, I normally do a faster, summarized version of this that takes around 25-40 minutes instead.
Again, it’s a pain sometimes, but I owe my ability to squeeze 50 hours of tasks into a 24 hour day to this very system.
At its core
This process is mandatory for me. Whether I want to do it or not, the benefit so much outweighs the cons that I have no excuse.
It’s become part of my Sunday (and subsequently, daily) ritual.
It’s what works for me for now.
It helps me stave off overwhelm (as best I can), get organized and focused, reign in my interests, and ensure that I stay on top of everything going on in my life.
This, in turn, nearly guarantees my productivity and forward progress as I navigate through the week.
And those are results I want for you as well! In fact, that’s what this post is all about; helping you uncover the things that you can add to your Sunday routine to set your week up for the most productivity and success as possible.
Time is powerful
It’s not about cramming more tasks into a day or getting your errands done faster, it’s about being deliberate with your time and making real progress towards your goals and ideal life.
Because how you spend your time each day directly correlates to where you’re going. That’s why how you spend your time is so important.
If you use it poorly, you will be chasing your tail, running in circles, not going anywhere and frustrated by your circumstances. But used wisely? You’ll see yourself move more rapidly in the right direction than ever before.
Your time is powerful and you don’t want to let it go to waste.
Why Sunday?
To be truly productive you need to be intentional about how you spend your time. And that starts on Sunday.
And Sunday, in this case, refers to the day before your workweek starts again.
So in theory, if your workweek starts on Monday, that means you need to make time for intentionality on Sunday. Or if that day is Wednesday, then you need to make time on Tuesday. For the sake of this post though, I’m going to use Sunday as the catch-all term for this scenario.
Anyways, that day is incredibly important.
Because many people see the weekend as a time to blow off steam. They’ve put in work all week, they’re tired, and just want to relax. I totally get. We all need a little break to rest, re-energize, and get re-motivated for the week ahead.
But, there’s also a secret power to treating your Sunday with a little intentionality.
Meaning that while you’re relaxing, there are a handful of things to do on a Sunday that when done properly, can set your week up for tremendous productivity and success.
Because as I touched on earlier, the more productive your week, the more you’ll achieve, and the sooner you’ll reach your goals.
So carve out some time on your Sunday and try out a couple of these genius things to do.
Things to do on a Sunday – Make time to learn
Find something that interests you and dive in. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you find it interesting. And as you continue to explore, so will your excitement for learning. In turn, you’ll discover new ways to challenge yourself and grow. You can then use that excitement as fuel to launch yourself enthusiastically into the upcoming week!
Practice what you learn
We consume so much information each day. Be it podcasts or books, conversations, or articles, information is constantly flowing towards us.
It’s one thing to listen to that knowledge, but it’s another thing entirely to apply it.
So just like in number one above, make time for yourself to learn. BUT more importantly, make time to apply that information. Use what you’ve learned out in the real world. Employ those strategies, tactics, or tips that you’ve come across.
Go into each week with a list of things that you’ve learned and want to try out. Then work through that list and find how exciting it is to actually take positive steps forward with your time.
Don’t waste that big brain of yours and don’t ignore the great resources you come across and learn from. Instead, internalize those lessons and take action on them. You’ll be surprised at how fun and rewarding your days will be.
By the way, you may run into the occasional roadblock from time to time. Especially when working on something challenging.
Don’t fret though.
It’s all part of the process!
Things to do on a Sunday – Reflect
This is one of my favorite things to do on a Sunday – reflect on the week. Why? Because Sundays are a great day for reflection. With the week now behind you and the next week fast approaching, consider:
What things went well this week?
How can you set yourself up for more great opportunities in the future?
What things went poorly this week?
What can you learn from this and do differently next time?
How are your goals coming along?
See Sunday as a time for reflection and growth. As a period that you can utilize for introspection and contemplation.
Use these questions as inspiration to plan out an even better upcoming week than the one you had prior. And if you find that you’re falling a little behind on your goals, try setting some daily goals to keep yourself accountable or read my post on achieving your goals
Plan out your week
This is one of the best things to do on a Sunday to get ready for the week – plan it out. What do I mean by plan it out?
I mean that you should create a plan for your time. Particularly for the upcoming week ahead. Because as I mentioned earlier, Sunday is a great time to sit, reflect, and ponder on your previous week and what you’d like to see happen in the upcoming week.
That said, creating a plan for your week is an amazing way to ensure that you get everything done that you are hoping to.
If you’re new to planning, see my posts on:
Creating an effective morning routine – here
How to do daily planning – here
And how to create a productive plan for yourself – here
Things to do on a Sunday – Figure out your meals
If you’re wondering what to do on a Sunday afternoon, look no further. Figuring out your meals for the week is a smart way to:
Save money by not impulse buying at the grocery store
Eat healthier because you’ll only buy ingredients for healthy food
And avoid rushing to figure out what to eat in the moment
So try planning out your meals on a Sunday.
Doing so will give you something to look forward to throughout the week, plus you’ll know exactly what to get at the grocery store which will save even more time!
If that feels too rigid though, try planning out a general idea of what meals you would like to have. You don’t necessarily have to make them in that order, but that way you have the ingredients ready to go whenever you are.
Reduce meal-time decision fatigue and improve your decision making skills by figuring out your meals ahead of time.
Clean house
I don’t work well in messy environments. Others might, I don’t.
So when it comes to preparing for the week, I always make sure to have a nice clean working area ready to go. If an orderly environment is something that allows you to better focus, make it a Sunday priority.
By organizing your workspace ahead of time, you will set yourself up to have a more focused week. And, more importantly, you won’t be scrambling to get organized during the chaos of Monday.
Ensure that each day is a productive one by being organized and prepared before your week even begins.
Things to do on a Sunday – Get your clothes ready
Speaking of things to do on a Sunday night, getting your clothes ready is another great idea. But, this doesn’t have to just be a Sunday thing. It can really be an every night kind of thing.
Planning out your clothes the night before will save you a tremendous amount of time in the long run.
Instead of scrambling to throw something together in the morning, you’ll deliberately plan out a great outfit the night before.
So check the weather, check your schedule, and check yourself out as you put together a great wardrobe for your next day. Plus, planning your clothes out the night before will help reduce decision fatigue the next day.
Win-win!
Think of Sunday as the start of the week
Mondays are chaotic. There are a lot of things going on and tasks being juggled. It’s a dreadful way to start the week.
So instead of considering Monday the start, try reframing it in your mind so that Sunday is actually when your week begins. And then, with your week now starting on a Sunday, see it as a day for calm, restoration, and preparation for the rest of your week.
With a little reframing you can go into Monday with more focus, more calm, more motivation, and a more solid strategy for tackling the upcoming days.
And I know, I know…
This tactic is a little “woo-woo”, but hey if reframing negative things into positive ones works for you, more power to you!
Things to do on a Sunday – Catch up with loved ones
With everything going on during the week, it’s easy to let loved ones fall to the background. Take time on Sunday then to reach out to those connections and catch up.
Schedule a lunch date, jump on a call, join a video chat. Reconnect with those you love and go into the week refreshed and feeling cared for.
It’s a wonderful way to:
Share your life with those you love
Get updated on how their lives are going
And continue to build/maintain your relationships
Try scheduling one call every Sunday. Make it a weekly habit and watch how you go into each week feeling loved, cared for, and motivated to create new experiences that you can share on your next call.
Make time for yourself
To close out this list of Sunday things to do, the final thing that you should consider adding to your Sunday routine is to make time for yourself.
This is a must if you want to be productive throughout the week.
Why?
Because there’s no better way to head off into the week than by giving yourself some much needed care and attention – whatever that means to you. That could be spending some time for rest, or reading a book, or watching a movie, or eating something delicious, or doing some light cardio.
It’s listening to your mind and body and giving it the attention it needs.
By making time to re-charge, you’ll be energized, focused, and ready to push through whatever future challenges come your way. In other words, you’ll head into the week ready to be more productive than ever before.
Plus, it’s a great way to mitigate any feelings of overwhelm.
Sunday
Give a few of the items above a try on your next Sunday. And as you go through your week, notice how productive you feel.
If you feel like you aren’t making any progress forward, try something new on your next Sunday. Or if you notice a difference for the better, keep doing what you’re doing!
It’s all about experimenting to find what works best for you.
That said, moving forward be sure to utilize your Sunday to the fullest so that you set your week up on a positive note and make progress towards your goals.