How to plan your week to be productive using these 5 lists!

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Okay so the upcoming week is approaching and you’re thinking to yourself “How to plan your week to be productive?”. Well, one of the best tools I’ve learned to help with not only time management but also increasing my productivity is to use lists! By using lists I’m able to look ahead in my weekly schedule and understand where everything can fit, as well as keep everything organized. This is huge for my weekly going smoothly and my ability to pivot and be flexible.

Before using lists my upcoming week just kind of happened… I would approach each day individually. This had me always feeling like I was forgetting things, made me worried when things had to roll over into different days and overall I didn’t really have any big goals I was planning for, not to mention long-term goals.

Why use lists?

Well, lists are a simple way to write things down and get them off your mind. Neurologically writing things down helps with having better memory recall and allows more focused thinking to occur. When your brain is busy trying to remember every single important task it can feel overwhelming and can actually slow down your thinking. So, instead of trying to remember everything that needs to happen all the time…actually take the time to write it down! This is one of the top ways I myself learned how to plan my week to be productive. You’ll likely find that after your start regularly creating lists it actually increases productivity and saves you time!

Where should I make my lists?

Honestly, whatever works best for how to plan your week! For some people that’s a physical planner, while others use an app or calendar digitally to plan a week. There is no real wrong place to record planning your week as long as it fits with how you best operate with your organization methods. For myself, I use a paper planner for my work tasks and so I find having a separate planner for my lists and weekly organization helps me with adding things to that planner as needed and keeping other items separate in my weekly planning.

How to plan your week to be productive – List 1: Meal Planning

One of the first lists I always create is a meal plan list. I make note of any days we will be out or already have plans and make note of items that are close to expiration and going bad that I need to use up. From there I use my weekly planner to fill in my meals. As I work from home, I include all 3 meals!

Why is this helpful you might ask? For starters, this helps me plan grocery shopping. I can map out all the meals I’ll make for the week and if I’m missing any ingredients, I can schedule in time with my planner to go out and get those items (plus I have a pre-build list!).

Second, this helps save me time in the evening in two ways. One I can meal prep ahead when I know what’s upcoming. For example, instead of cutting veggies two days in a row, I can bulk cut them one day for each meal to already be ready for use! As well I don’t spend a bunch of time staring at my fridge not sure of what I want to make, and likely wasting ingredients that can turn bad before I use them.

Want a step-by-step guide to meal planning for beginners – check out my blog post here!

List 2: Appointments and Pre-Scheduled Events

When it comes to weekly planning, I find it key to put in pre-scheduled events and appointments. These are commitments you’ve already made and there’s nothing worse than forgetting and realizing part way through the week when you have a million things on your to-do list.

I start on Monday morning and go through each day of my calendar making a list of all my appts. This helps me see the entire week ahead and understand how much time I have each day. This allows me to then fit in work, home, and personal tasks around these appointments without feeling overwhelmed or missing out on important tasks.

How to plan your week to be productive List 3: Bills and Finances

This is one of my least favourite lists to make to plan for a week but it’s essential. I write out all my different bills that are coming up in the week ahead. This helps me know when money will be coming and going and helps me stay on top of my finances. Also, when thinking about how to plan the week I consider if is there anything I need to plan for financially and do my research. For example, last summer we were getting our roof re-done. This required me to research different companies in the area and look at our budget and finances for this house renovation. I also plan out if there’s any necessary time needed to be allocated for planning and budgeting in the week ahead.

This is even a list at times I plan 1 week in advance! Why? Well with bigger bills and those one-time financial transactions sometimes it’s nicer to map them out ahead so I have more time to get organized and sorted before bills are due. As mentioned above, find the best way for you to be organized with this information and then use it when sitting down to plan the week.

List 4: Work Schedules and Tasks

I find it so important to make time for my work plan. I used to do this back when I worked at my 9-5, but even more, I find it more important when working from home! This is a great time to look ahead and start planning when tasks can be placed throughout your week. If you have pre-scheduled meetings, then ensure they’re laid out, so you know what time remains in your work week.

For myself, in addition to laying out meetings and commitments, I also include my task list. My task list is divided into two – the must happens and then I want to work towards these goals. The “must happen list” must end up in my work schedule. Whereas for my I want to work towards these goals I sprinkle in only if time is permitting in my weekly plan.

How to plan your week List 5: Fun & Self-Care

So, all our lists have been pretty focused on being serious to plan your week. This list is more fun! I make weekly plans for when I’m going to have fun and take time for self-care. I’m going to be honest if I don’t schedule it for some weeks it does not happen. It can be common for my days to become a series of tasks, and that’s why I infuse creative ways to boost my energy and take care of myself throughout the day.  

I typically try to plan about 20-30 minutes per day, and a half day once every 2 weeks. This can be going for a walk, going out with friends, shopping (for fun!), taking a bubble bath, painting my nails, or calling a friend. Planning it out ahead and having it on a list each week that I can add to is so helpful! I haven’t yet run out of self-care ideas!

Summary

I hope this blog post sparked some ideas for you on how to plan your week to be productive and more effective with your time! From the list I’ve shared, is there anything you would add or any other additional lists you would use for helping you to plan for the week? I’d love to read them in the comments so drop them below!