Getting Organized: My New Sunday Plan

I’ve decided that I need to work on getting a bit more organized in my life in general.  Every once in a while I’ve posted a to-do list (like here or here) on my blog when I’ve felt like my schedule or to-do list is out of control and I need some external support and accountability.  Those weeks mostly work out to be much more productive… I don’t know if I need to write a list on my blog each week, but I’ve come up with a three part plan to get myself organized:

1. My Sunday Plan
2. My Evening To-Do List
3. My Morning Schedule

Today I’ll talk about #1, and hopefully I’ll be able to post about #2 and #3 later this week.  I’m sure some of you will wonder that I need to actually think about these things, not everyone needs to… but I love lists, and schedules, and my brain seems to require them in order to be the most productive, so bear with me as I go through this process.

So, I have created a Sunday evening plan for myself.  Somewhere in my organizing internet adventures, I stumbled across this post on the Sunday Basket.  I have not purchased the ebook, but I’ve read some of the posts and I’ve adapted the idea for me.

I generally am busy.  I like it that way.  I love being social and doing fun things with my friends and family, and I love being active and playing sports.  But, with all that going on, sometimes I get overwhelmed with my regular “To-Do” items, and things can get a little messy.  I think getting a good idea of what the week ahead holds will really help me plan my time better.

My Sunday evening plan will consist of doing five things:

1. Take a good look at calendar for the week.  Make sure that the wall calendar is updated.  Check with the fiance on any tentative plans or plans that require coordination.
2. Determine what are the “must dos” on the list for this week.  Make a realistic to do list based on free time for each day, making sure not to over schedule or get overly ambitious.  (That’s just a recipe for failure.)
3. Make a list for each day of what I need for that day’s activities, the things I need to remember to take to work, etc.
4. Plan the meals for the week, including lunches, and make a shopping list.  (Depending on the week, and the lunch situation for Monday, I may be required to shop on Sunday evening, or I might be able to delay until Monday after work…)
5. Review expenses from the previous week and look at upcoming expenses for this week.  This shouldn’t really take long, but it’s a good thing to review the status of the budget.

I don’t think it is too ambitious of a plan for a Sunday.  And I think that if I can stick with it, and make it a habit, it will really really help make me more organized and productive each week.

I started this plan tonight.  I sat down and did each of the five things on the list.  I feel very organized and ready for the week ahead.  Fingers crossed it actually works… I’ll let you know.

What do you think?  Am I missing anything?  Am I doing too much?  Do you have a Sunday plan or a weekly check-in?

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