5 Things to Do on Sunday to Prep for the Best Week Ever

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Look, you don’t have you spend your entire day on Sunday in prep-mode for the week ahead. But if you carve out some time to tackle one or two (or, hey, all) of the things on this list, you’ll set yourself up for the best, easiest, most no-brainer week ever—guaranteed.

1. Plan your workouts …

You’re more likely to stick with a workout plan if you physically jot down what you want to accomplish, fitness-wise, in a given week. I’m talking: Get your calendar out and designate the days and times you will go for a run, hit the gym, head to yoga class, etc. The more specific you are with your plan, the more likely you are to stick with it. And, hey, if it helps, sign up and pay for your fitness classes ahead of time. When there’s money on the line, you definitely won’t miss out, am I right?

2. … And your rest days.

Remember, rest days are just as important as training days: Physically, they allow your body to recuperate and get keyed up for your next workout. But mentally, they do a world of good, too. Think of your rest days—whether you build in two or three a week, depending on your fitness goals—as your reward for all your hard work. So be sure to include them on your fitness calendar in big, bold, neon-pink letters.

3. Make your lunches.

I know. Making lunches is a total drag. But in my experience, waking up earlier every single day of the week to hastily throw a measly sandwich and boring apple into a bag is way worse than just biting the bullet and putting in the legwork ahead of time. Last Sunday, I spent all of 30 minutes in the kitchen preparing a big ol’ crock of homemade chili and rice, and I made enough to last all week long. If you have enough containers, you can parcel out your five weekday servings and pop them in the fridge. Or, you can spend just two minutes on your weekday mornings, like I do, dishing out your lunch and bagging it up. Done aaaaand done.

If you need some ideas for what to make, check out these make-ahead mason jar salads that will keep all week long, or these out-of-the-box make-ahead lunch ideas. And if you’re feeling particularly on top of your game, you can try these make-ahead breakfast ideas from around the Web or try our own make-ahead-and-freeze egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches.

4. Plan your outfits.

Believe it or not, this is the most painful thing for me. I think it’s because I’ve never been much of a fashion person (there’s a reason I don’t write for our Shoppist blog), so I’m one of those people who, every few weeks, stares at my closet and thinks to myself, “How in the world have I ever made a single good outfit out of any of this garbage?!” All the more reason, then, to plan ahead. If I don’t give some thought to the week’s outfits well ahead of time, I will waste precious weekday-morning minutes in blank-stare-closet mode only to end up in an ensemble that looks, well, as slapped together as it really was. Also, putting some thought into a week’s worth of clothing—including your gym clothes—ensures that all the pieces you intend to wear are actually clean when you want to wear them (another ongoing issue of mine. Sigh.).

5. Turn off your work email, and relish your downtime.

This might be the most important item on this list. I am a firm believer in the fact that, unless you are a doctor who needs to be on call to actually save people’s lives, there is nothing at work that can’t wait for you to take care of during the work week. I know it’s tempting to fire off a quick email here and there—especially when it’s right there! On your phone! Just teasing you!—but doing so can really take a toll on your stress levels. So while it might be too much to expect that you shut out your work email for an entire weekend (although, I would totally recommend it, seeing as how I once went two glorious weeks without it), perhaps you can commit to turning it off, say, from 3 p.m. onward on Sundays. Think of it as a much-needed vacation for your overworked brain. Then, go do something fun and relaxing with all that newly discovered downtime. You deserve it.

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