I thrive on routine; sometimes to a fault. I am your typical type-A, plan everything kind of gal. I am the one who has an idea in her mind as to how all the things will go, and how blissful they will be. And then get pissy when something goes awry. Although that last part has lessened a bit since having kids because: kids.

I can’t say what made me this way, really, but if I had to guess it was the never-ending list of moments in my life where my mom made us late for something. We were always flying by the seat of our pants. There may have been ideas of having plans, but we were none the wiser and just spent our childhood rushing around from here to there and everywhere. 

Yep. That must be it. 

So here I am: a planner! YOU’RE WELCOME FAMILY! 

But let’s be real. I’m human, and things still don’t always go great when I do plan. However, having a base plan really lessens the meltdowns (from all of us, me included) and if something changes it’s ok because we can always navigate back to the plan when we can. NOT planning, though??? No. No thank you. Good day, sir. Those days are horrible.

So what do I do to prep for our weeks? Let me show you:

1. Meal plan + grocery shop : I am getting to the point of not needing to spend hours upon hours meal planning due to my new calendar system of meal planning (see more about that here + a weekly meal plan) but I still have to review past meals and plug them into the days properly based on our schedule that week. Once I know what we are having, I review the recipes for ingredients and make my grocery list + our normal staple things we need to stock up on. Lucky for me, I can order groceries online and pick them up curbside. I PTL everytime I get to do this because going to the store with one kid sucks, let alone more than one. Typically I meal plan on Saturday, place the grocery order Saturday night and pick up groceries sometime on Sunday. I tried a Monday pick up and it just wasn’t for us. 
2. FOOD Prep : Notice I didn’t say MEAL prep here. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of leftovers. I can do about 1, maybe 2, nights of leftovers if the meal can be repurposed well. I don’t like eating the same thing over and over again, and I do like variety. BUT! If I don’t prepare things in advance for breakfast/lunch (maybe snacks?) then I eat like garbage, and will almost always grab something fast from the pantry (crackers, tortilla chips w/ salsa, more crackers). I used to not buy these things, but now that the kids are older and eating me out of house and home I have had to up my snack game (yes, they eat fruits, veggies, cheese and yogurt too 😉 ) . So to make sure I’m reaching for better foods, I wash/cut fruits + veggies and getting them into containers so I can just grab them as needed. I roast extra, extra veggies with dinner on Sundays (or after the kids go to bed) so I can have them available for breakfast and lunches the next 2 days. Roasted broccoli straight out of the fridge is gold, by the way! Taking the extra step the night before I need it, whether that’s on Sunday or any other day during the week, ALWAYS makes the next day (or few days) run smoother.
3. Laundry : Need I say more? But seriously, having enough clothes to get through our week for the kids, at the very least, is super helpful. We are usually doing laundry in the evenings after the kids have gone to sleep, so we’ve started keeping the kid’s hangers in our closet so we can immediately hang them up. It’s really helped get their clothes out of our room and actually put away! I know you mama’s hear me on that!!
4. Review the calendar & update if needed : This is a BIG one for me. I didn’t do this last week and severely paid for it. I quite literally could not keep up with what day of the week it was, or when we had appointments/play dates scheduled. I also failed to really grocery shop too, which threw my days out of whack even more. It was just bad. Reviewing the calendar on Sat/Sun. night gives me a good glimpse into how our week will go. I can check with my husband to note any work appointments I need to be aware of that might keep him away during dinner, or have me taking Hailey (and the whole fam damily too!) to school in the mornings. I can also plan my office hours for the week, too–which has been a huge improvement for my business as a whole.
5. I (generally) don’t say “YES” on a whim : How is this doing something to prep for my week? Well, I know our daily schedule between school and naps, and I know the limited window we are working with each day during the week. Those 2 hours don’t allow for a whole lot of wiggle room to do something unplanned, unless it’s making a trip to the grocery store—which I always try to avoid with the kids period. But because I don’t say yes on a whim, I can schedule/plan something for the next week and have things prepped the night before a play date/outing. By giving myself margin, and I’m able to minimize stress on my end, which is good for everyone!

I’d love to know how others prepare for their days! Let me know if you do any of these things, too, or if you have a whole different list. I am always looking to improve my efficiency 🙂

xo, Jess