POV: It’s the end of the week, you feel completely out of control, you’re barely making it through, and trying to function in chaos. Then the next week rolls around, and it feels like you’re drowning in an impossible to do list, racing the clock to get everything done! Well, that was me 90% of the time, and it is why I started implementing a Weekly Reset, starting at the end of the week, and into the weekend.

“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan”
-Eleanor Roosevelt

I like to keep things simple! There is already enough chaos going on in the world around me; so with that in mind, I try my best to keep up with the things I do have control over. This way my head isn’t spinning with the various tasks life tends to throw at me.

If you’re like me, and you get overwhelmed pretty easily it’s vital to have certain things in order to prevent extreme anxiety, information overloads, and mental breakdowns. I am by no means an expert, but I have taken the time to really learn what works and what doesn’t work; and I highly suggest and will always advocate for others to do the same. Learn what organizational methods work best for you. Ask yourself, what will be realistic and what will stick.

I believe everyone needs to have a Weekly Reset Routine. It’s key to not only ending the week productively, but beginning the next week productively as well. I love watching Michelle Reed on YouTube, and her consistent Weekly Routine posts. It motivates me to get my life together, and stay on top of all my responsibilities. Here is one of her posts on YouTube!

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My Reset Checklist

I like to begin preparing for the next week beginning on Friday, and I’ll continue the checklist all throughout the weekend. Trying to do an entire reset on one day is a bit much for me; especially if there are a lot of chores to be done.

It almost feels like a nice breather! Like hitting the reset button on a long work week. Below are all the items I include on my reset checklist. I really don’t look at it so much as a routine; and that is because there’s no pressure for me to do these in order. Further, not all of these items have to be done every week. If something is already organized from the previous week – skip it! I just like to be sure that each of these items and tasks are organized, cleaned, and prepared before I go into the next week.

1. To Do list

I keep a long running To Do list that’s almost like a brain dump, of all the things I’d like to get done. From this list, I will prioritize the top items that I know I can accomplish within the next week, and will save it for then.

I like doing this, because I’m thinking ahead. This saves me time, come Monday I already know what needs to be done and don’t have to spend a lot of time planning. I can just get started on whatever needs to be done.

2. Calendar & Notes

At the end of the week I like to go through my Google Calendar and make sure the next week is all up to date. If things aren’t put in my Google Calendar then I will totally forget about it; especially once the week gets going and I become super busy. It’s nice to check the calendar daily of course, but I do this to also help me prepare for what’s to come.

Next, my notes on my phone tend to become a place where I brain dump during the week. I like to keep this organized, so typically at the end of the week I’ll go through and delete things I don’t need, and clean up any notes I do need to keep. This really helps me stay organized, and my thoughts clear.

3. Email & Papers

This is something I may not need to do during my reset. It can be hard keeping up with my email, but I really try to keep this clean daily. I always delete and unsubscribe junk mail, and my goal is to keep no more than 10 emails in my inbox. That may seem crazy, but trust me! Take the time to go through your email inbox and clean it out. Because I do this daily, I usually don’t need to do this in my reset. But I do recommend keeping a clean email inbox. It’s so much easier to find things, and not have a bunch of emails you don’t need.

And this doubles for all my papers as well. This primarily includes everything that comes in the mail. On the daily, I trash all the junk mail, and file away anything that needs to be filed. There are so many different ways to go about organizing your papers, so find something that is realistic and works for you. For the most part, I have made most of my bills paperless, but for other things I do have a filing system that makes sense for me.

4. Errands

When it gets to the weekend, that’s when I have the most time to run my errands. The biggest errand I like to do on the weekends is go grocery shopping. I try to go every weekend if I have the time. But overall, Saturday is considered my “get stuff done” day; and my goal is to run all my errands then.

5. Car & Purse

These are things I like to keep organized, but let’s face it – by the end of the week both my car and my purse can just get so messy without even realizing or trying. By the end of the week both my car and purse get filled with empty water bottles, receipts, wrappers, and just random trash.

It’s so beneficial to take some time to clean everything out, vacuum your car, and restock your purse with hand sanitizer and gum. If you’d like to dive deeper on how I keep these things organized, check out my post “How to organize.”

6. Budget

Your budget is something you should keep your eye on daily; but on the weekend, typically Sunday for me, I like to go through and make sure everything is up to date and check my spending. This also really helps me out to prepare for the next week ahead to monitor what bills are coming up, and where I have any flexibility.

My budget is super simple and has helped both my sister and I keep track of our spending. I am definitely no expert, but if you’re interested in knowing how I do my budget planning, let me know!

7. Meal Prep

Last but not least, my Sunday evenings are reserved for meal prepping. I learned the best way to meal prep from Downshiftology. Instead of creating a set number of meals, I just like to prepare ingredients to make cooking during the week easier. I work from home, so I don’t necessarily need to prepare meals. But I don’t like spending a lot of time during the week in the kitchen preparing long meals, and I’d rather have some of the work already done to make life easier.

I hope this is helpful, and inspires you to create a Weekly Reset checklist that works for you. Having this list typed out in my notes has helped me stay both organized, and productive. It has really made a difference in my levels of stress and feeling overwhelmed. I know that if I can take time Friday-Sunday, to decompress and prepare for the next week, I will only be set up for success.

Things I use to help me with my Weekly Reset:

• Google Keep Notes
• Google Calendar
• Filing System – Target
• Google Sheets