Starting a project or trying to reach a goal can be difficult when we have other commitments such as work and family. This post covers the process I go through and the planner I use to plan my week to be productive and successful. If you want to figure out how to plan your week for success, this planner and the tips below can help!
Define what success is to you
When deciding how to plan your week the first step is to consider what success is to you. Ask yourself how to set up your week for success by first deciding what it is you want to achieve and why.
It’s really easy for us to look at how to plan our week to be productive by looking at what other people are doing. I know for me, I always looked at how to organize my week based on what other habits of success. I felt like I needed to get up at 5 am and work until midnight to be productive and successful. The truth was, I was content with getting a few tasks in that were for the project I loved.
When you’re deciding how to plan your week, ask yourself what success is to you. What are the things you love to do? What tasks are the most important things for you to get done?
Honor your voice and the activities that nourish your soul by planning the tasks that matter to you the way that works best for you.
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Be realistic about your boundaries
This brings me to the second point on how to plan your week! To set up your week for success does not mean that you have to fit every single task is possible. When we add too much to our plate we become overwhelmed and unmotivated. The secret to how to plan your week for success is to be realistic about your boundaries. If you have kids and you know you only have an hour before bed, then do what you can in an hour. Don’t set an unrealistic amount of tasks for yourself and then feel guilty that you couldn’t get them done.
This was a game-changing tip for me when I was learning how to plan my week to be productive. I realized that by overworking myself I was stressed, tired and not creating my best work. Instead, I had to narrow down what was important and fit it into a realistic schedule.
When you’re creating your productivity weekly plan keep it simple! Do the things you love and keep them to an important minimum for the time that you have.
Know when you’re most efficient
Another part of planning your week to be productive is to also know yourself. Know when you work best and when you don’t and adjust your activities around that.
For example, I know I write my content best in the morning. I know when I wake up Monday morning I’ve planned my week to be successful by putting activities in during my best times.
Sometimes setting up your week for success might not be exactly as you want it. That’s okay! Do your best. There are times where I write my content at night if I need to but I’m also aware of when I’m most efficient and try and schedule in my most important tasks when I know I’m most productive.
Set a theme for each day
I completed a great course called the 90 Day Year. The biggest tip I got on how to plan my week for success was to set themes for each day. For example, when organizing my week ahead for my blog I know I need to pin, create content and work on membership content (you can sign up for the VIP waitlist in the menu).
Since I work Tuesday to Thursday I know I only have two days to focus on these areas. Mondays are my content days. Fridays are the days I work on membership content. These themes are set for those days. They are my complete focus.
I am realistic about the time I have after work so those are the days I focus on my pinning as this is the shortest task I have.
When planning your week to be productive, set themes (one to three) for each day and stick to them. Organize your week around the time you have and the main themes you know you need to cover whether it’s for health and wellness or another project.
Write down the main tasks for each of them & prioritize them
After planning my week by creating themes for each day, I then write down the main tasks for those themes. I know I’m setting myself up for a successful week when I can narrow down the tasks that I need to get done.
An important tip to set up your week to be productive is to make sure you prioritize those tasks. This is where confusion and overwhelm can also become a problem. If we don’t prioritize, we often get stuck in that mindset that everything needs to get done at once. Prioritizing forces us to plan our week based on what’s most important and work through it.
Once you’ve created you’ve created your themes and set the main tasks for them, it’s as simple as numbering them from most important to least important.
Related content: 4 Steps To Starting The New Year Productively
Choose what days you’re going to do them
For me, planning my week to be productive means planning each day either on Sunday night or Monday morning. I set up my week for success by breaking up my tasks based on the themes I’ve chosen for the day and also the time frame I have. You can always cover two themes in a day!
The main thing is that you plan your week to be successful by deciding what tasks you’re going to do on what days! When we wait to decide on the day we procrastinate. It’s easier to wake up and have a planned schedule ready to go with tasks that have been prioritized and set up to be achievable with the time that we have.
When organizing your week I encourage you to stick to routines and activities that work for you during the time that you work best. This is the best advice I could give on how to set up your week for success. It’s easy to get caught up in how others plan your week and feel pressured to plan your week in the same way. Everybody works differently. My schedule became productive and successful when I did what truly felt right for me. Plan your week for success your way!
Out of all of these steps I’ve taken to plan my week to be productive, these have been the most helpful. The planner, while simple, helps us to break down our tasks and major themes to help us feel on track. I highly recommend these tips and the planner to help you set up your week to be productive and start reaching all the goals you have for yourself. Happy planning!
