Sunday Prep

A Sunday well spent brings a week of content…

A lot of people like to spend their Sundays relaxing at home, lounging on the sofa, binge-watching their favorite shows or simply spending time with friends and family doing activities they love. I too am one of those people. Our Sundays surely come and go too quickly, like most of yours I assume. There is nothing wrong with that, however, even though I too enjoy those things, I like to leave room for my Sunday prep. I by no means am perfect and some weeks, due to certain Sunday commitments, leave me less prepped than others, but I always try.
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Sunday Prep

I learned a long time ago that my weeks go much better if I have a plan laid out for the week, that I have things prepped and ready to go. What do I mean by this? I simply mean that it’s nice to have the laundry mostly caught up, the house in working order, school and diaper bags packed, dinners/lunches planned and my husband and I both on the same page of what our upcoming week looks like.

How I Prep

Number 1: I look at our shared Google Calendar and see what events and/or commitments we have for the week. This allows me to know what things the kids, myself and my husband for that matter may need throughout the week. Anything I can do to also prep for those commitments is always a plus. For example, if I know my husband has a league basketball game on Tuesday night, I know I’ll need to plan an earlier and quicker dinner for that night so we can all eat and be out the door in time for him to get to his game. This means I also usually plan my son’s favorite meal (chicken tortellini pasta & cucumbers or broccoli) that night so it’s a quick and painless dining experience.
Number 2: A clean and organized house when you wake up on Monday morning is a must. Really for any morning during the week, but Monday for sure. It really sets the tone for that day or the entire week for that matter. I know cleaning the kitchen or doing a load of laundry after you put the kids to bed seems like the worst thing ever, but you will surely thank yourself when you wake up in the morning with those things complete. BONUS: many times I reward myself when I am done with a glass of wine and a show with my husband. Yay! 🙂
Number 3: Food prep, the ever trending topic. It is true, if you prep your food ahead of time, you will make smarter choices and set you and your family up for a healthier lifestyle. I do always know the meals I want to cook for dinners, breakfast, and my son’s lunches ahead of time. For my husband’s lunches, I usually stock up on his favorites and let him choose and pack the morning of. I typically go grocery shopping on Tuesday mornings, so my meal options must last thru Monday of the following week. I typically wing it on the weekends, unless we are planning to host friends or family, but I surely plan the weekdays out. We have our main 3-5 meals that are always in rotation, but I try to try a new recipe ever so often to change things up. This makes grocery shopping fairly painless.
After I go grocery shopping, I put out all my produce on the counters so it is easily accessible. I clean and cut up anything that my kids like to eat regularly as well. If you work out of the home or just have busy mornings, I suggest prepping your breakfasts too like my morning smoothies. I’ll put the smoothie ingredients in a ziplock baggie so all I need to do is dump in the blender and add liquid. Another morning favorite for my kids and I (my husband doesn’t eat breakfast on the weekdays) is muffin tin eggs. I’m sure you’ve seen these a million times on Pinterest, super easy and healthy.



Number 4: Work prep for me is a must. Even though I work from home, I still need to treat it as a normal job and schedule my days. For my contract clients, I look ahead and see what is due for the week. For this blog, I like to have my content written and social media planned and finished at least a week ahead at a time at the minimum. So a lot of times, Sundays I write/plan content while the rest of the house sleeps. I’m not much of a napper, but it’s not all bad, I usually pour myself an extra cup of coffee and have a Hallmark movie running in the background.
Number 5: Making sure I have fun and educational things planned for the kids all week is a must. If I simply wing it, we don’t get out of the house at a reasonable time and then don’t have enough time to do much of anything before we need to be back home for my daughter’s naptime. In the summertime, we meet up with friends at the beach and park at least 2-3 times per week. We also go to the outdoor storytime at the library at least once per week. In the winter time here, it becomes a bit more tricky. We usually go to the library 2-3 times per week for story and craft times. We also will usually plan a lunch date with friends or my mom at her work. I workout more at the YMCA during the winter so the kids enjoy playing at the child watch there as well, which is nice. I will also take them swimming at the YMCA once per week in the winters as time allows. In the afternoons, while my kid’s nap or my son is at school (preschool twice per week right now) I work and/or complete any housework that needs to be done.

You Don’t Have to be an Organization Queen to be Prepped

Don’t stress yourself out over this. You don’t have to be a super organized or type A person in order to accomplish your Sunday prep. Start out small and prep the things that are most important to you. Add more as you go until you feel like you hit that sweet spot of prepared for the week ahead. Simple starting with picking up the clutter in your house at night and planning your meals for the week is a great place to start. Once you master that, add more. You can do it. Your prep won’t be the same as mine and that’s ok too. Everyone’s lifestyle is a bit different, so your prep should be too. Use my prep as an idea template for you to customize as you need.
Comment below with any Sunday preparation tips you have learned over the years. I am always looking for new ways prep for my week ahead.