A saying that I live by is, ” A Sunday well spent brings a week of content.” I live by it because it is absolutely true. It is also for this reason that I love and hate Sundays. I love them because they are a day away from work and with my family. I hang out in my sweats most of the day, and that’s pretty nice too. I also get to sleep a little later, which is a BIG plus.  What I don’t like about Sunday is that it sets the tone for my week. If I have a productive Sunday, then the rest of my week runs pretty smoothly. If I don’t have a productive Sunday, the rest of my week is thrown off. We take longer to get out of the house in the morning, or instead of being able to come home and relax during the week, I am figuring out dinner.

Here are some of my tips for making the most out of Sunday:

Meal prep

I make a dinner that will last through Tuesday. Some meals that work well for my family are spaghetti, baked chicken and rice, lasagna, or jambalaya. My family are fans of leftovers, so that isn’t an issue. If I am feeling really adventurous, I’ll make another meal for the second half of the week. We always do pizza Friday, so the second meal would only need to last through Thursday.

I also meal prep my children’s lunches for the week. I pack a combination of things like apple sauce, fresh fruit, cheese sticks, individually wrapped popcorn, yogurt, peanut butter and crackers, carrot sticks. All of these things can hold up for five days in the refrigerator.

Laundry

Oh, Laundry… The bane of my existence. I swear, with two children, it is never-ending. This is the task that takes up the bulk of my Sunday. If I am mindful of time, and I start as soon as we get home from church, I can usually wash about 5 loads of laundry on Sunday. I will sometimes begin this process on Saturday evening if we are going to be in the house.

I fold the clothes too. Well, sometimes I fold the clothes. I sometimes think about folding the clothes. I am going to start folding the clothes. On the rare occasion when I fold all of the clothes and put them away, things run smoother. This leads me to the next point, which is…

Pick out outfits for the week

Having just washed, dried and (hopefully) folded clothing makes this task easy. I look at the predicted weather for the week and pick out outfits for the next five days based on those predictions. I then hang up the matched outfits in each child’s closet. This step makes the mornings run 100% smoother.

This is also the best time to do any ironing. Don’t wait until the morning before to iron dress pants when you can get it out of the way on Sunday. Of course, most clothes don’t need ironing  nowadays. But for those few items that are creased, it’s worth getting it out of the way on Sunday while choosing outfits.

Prepare my gym bag

I know that if I have an excuse not to exercise, I’ll use an excuse not to exercise. One way that I get out of my own way is to make sure that my gym bag is packed with multiple exercise outfits for the workweek. We have a gym at my job, so if I choose to exercise, it is during the workday. Having my gym bag stocked with everything I need to be successful has helped to increase the amount of time I spend exercising on any given week.

Style my daughter’s hair

My daughter has beautiful, thick, 4A hair that requires a lot to be maintained. I know myself, and my child well enough to know that if we leave this task to be done in the morning, it will result in two stressed-out people. Due to this, I try to get it done on Sunday. My daughter has a lot of hair, so I begin this process on Saturday night by washing and detangling her hair and placing it in larger braids to air dry. I take those braids out on Sunday and do her hair in a more long-term style like smaller braids or cornrows. If the previous tasks have taken up too much of my time, then I will cut back in this area and do another short-term hairstyle and revisit this later in the week.

Review my to-do list

I am a full-time working mom, wife, and doctoral student. I have a to-do list that is literally a mile long. I use some of my time on Sunday to look my list over, and cross of things off that may have been completed over the past week. I also take the opportunity to update it with new tasks that are essential to the upcoming week. Additionally, I check the list against our family calendar. This is to make sure that I am aware of all the events I need to attend, snacks I need to pick up for the classroom, and childcare coverage.

Leave some time to relax

I shut it down at 8 p.m. I need to relax my mind and body, as I begin to prepare for work on Monday. Self-care is important, and this is the way that I fit it in on my busy Sunday. I watch some mindless television, snuggle up next to my hubby and eventually drift off to sleep, ready for the week.

Was this helpful? What tips do you have for a productive Sunday? Comment below.