Have you found a great weekly planning method? Living with intention instead of just letting life happen changes your whole outlook.
I have a confession to make… I have tried probably 20 different kinds of planners in the last 10 years. I remember one of my favorite parts of public school was getting a planner every year so I could fill it in!! Even then I knew I wouldn’t remember anything if I didn’t write it down. This is a sad confession to make, but it also means that I have learned what works for me and what does not!
Why should I start my weekly planning?
If we don’t make a plan, we will just be pulled along for the ride as our week goes on. This may work for some people, but if you feel scattered and like you keep forgetting things, or never get to everything you want to, then maybe try planning your week and see if it works for you! Side note… no one accomplishes EVERYTHING they want in a week.
How I plan my week for success
I start by sitting down on Sunday afternoons and looking at our upcoming week. From September to February this usually happens after church while sitting with my husband watching football. It’s one of my favorite times! We use Cozi Family Calendar to schedule our lives. I really can’t recommend it enough! It helps you to schedule who needs to be where at what time and the whole family can view it. There is a free version that is worth checking out and even the paid version is only $30 a year! So worth it in my opinion. (You can sign up and check it out for free here!)
Weekly Planning on Paper
The system that works best for me is to have my daily schedule on one side of the paper, and my to do list on the other side. This used to happen just in a notebook but recently I designed a planner on Plum Planner that is set up the same way!
I write out things out like this:
Then I go through my week on Cozi and write out where everyone will be every day. This includes my husband’s work schedule, any appointments or classes we have, etc. I also make a spot to write what is for dinner that day.
Next on the opposite side of the paper I write out any to dos for that day that I already know about. For example if I have a mom’s group meeting on Wednesday, on Tuesday I will write “plan for mom’s group.” Or if I have specific cleaning I want to do I will write it out ahead of time. I choose to put things like exercise on the list because I enjoy crossing things off! Haha!
Meal planning
After that I go through and plan dinners for the week. I think about what we have going on and who will be home and plan it out. Then I put on my to do list for the day before to take out whatever meat from the freezer we will need. Having things planned in advance helps me to be prepared! Sometimes I will even add to the to do list things like “chop onions” or “make sauce” if they are things that need to happen before the actual meal making starts. During this process I also am making my grocery list. Right now I’m doing a weekly grocery pickup at Walmart during one of my daughter’s classes so I go through and add anything I will need for meals right into the pickup in that moment.
When the day comes it’s easy for me to see what our day looks like and work on crossing things off the list!
Are you a planner person? Do you prefer paper or electronic? Comment below with whatever system works best for you! Be sure to check out my post on How to Budget!
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