How I Use Sundays to Recover and Prepare

Despite spring break being just two weeks ago, I am exhausted. I’ve had papers, tests, projects, and definitely not enough sleep to make it through the day without multiple cups of coffee. Thank goodness for the weekend; Friday night to celebrate, all of Saturday to do whatever I want, and Sunday to relax, but also tackle what I have to get done.

The first rule of my weekend is that no one wakes me up before 10 am. This way I still get to sleep in considering my usual wake up call is at 7 am. I used to just let myself wake up as late as I wanted to, but soon learned that if I wasn’t out of bed and fully awake by 12 the day was gone and nothing was going to get done.

Next I take a look at my to-do list. Do I have laundry? Have I put off the dishes? What’s on my plate for the day? And then I get started, but slowly because this is my Sunday and there is no need to rush. Sometimes I’ll have homework, but I like to break it up; do some homework then throw in a load of laundry. It makes me feel like I’m being productive without the onslaught of stress washing over me.

By the end of the day my room is picked up, my laundry is tucked away where it belongs, and I’m able to go into the week with a clean slate... more or less. There is just one thing left for me to do; fill out my planner and calendar. I’ve always been a stationary nerd, and it turns out that in college being a stationary nerd is both satisfying and purposeful.

I do not know where I would be without my planner and my weekly calendar. It’s a great way to look ahead at the week before it starts, and it barely takes up any space on my desk. I keep track of plans as they come up in my planner and on Sunday night lay them out on the calendar. I use green for my work shifts, yellow for homework or tests, and purple for any meetings or events.

As a visual person color coding is always helpful so even if I’m rushing out the door I can quickly look at the colors and see what I have to do. I wish I started doing this in highschool, I can think of some days when it would have been very helpful.

How do you spend your Sundays? What do you use to stay organized?