Weekly Routines Will Save you Time & Energy

Weekly routines are so important. They keep life running smoothly. Morning routines get all the press but, to be honest, give me a good weekly routine any day. This is what makes the difference between ordering out every night and eating a home-cooked meal. It’s the difference between piles of laundry and having clean underwear. A good weekly routine really can take you from feeling frazzled and overwhelmed to knowing it’s all under control. 

Why is it important to have a weekly routine?

Weekly routines are so important, especially to busy people. These routines are important for a few reasons. First, having a good weekly routine keeps you on track. In my experience, it’s pretty easy to create daily habits. But many household activities, like grocery shopping and planning meals, aren’t necessarily daily activities. It can be hard to create habits when you aren’t doing something every day. To combat this difficulty, designate a day and time for your weekly tasks.

In addition to helping you create good habits, a weekly routine can also improve your sense of well being. When you know that you have a day to wash towels or change the sheets, you don’t have to feel anxious about it. Rather than spending the whole week thinking “Oh, I should really wash the towels” you will know that when you get to Sunday morning, you can wash the towels. Having a set routine really promotes a sense of mental space that will serve you well. 

what is a good weekly routine?

A good weekly routine shouldn’t be too heavy. You don’t need to go crazy and add 100 things to your weekly routine. I suggest starting with no more than 5 items on your weekly routine. Does that seem really small?

Well, think of it this way: 5 tasks that you do every week is WAY better than doing the same tasks sporadically or not at all. Keeping your weekly routine small also means that you are more likely to stick with your routine. That’s a huge win! 

What are things you should do weekly?

When you write your weekly routine, start by brainstorming a list of things you do – or should do – every week. Here are some things you might want to do weekly:

Laundry

You might want to pick a specific day each week to do all of your laundry. You could also choose a day to do specific laundry. For example, you could wash towels on Monday, Kid’s clothes on Tuesday, sheets on Wednesday, and so on. 

Change bed sheets

Some people really have to change their sheets frequently or they feel yucky. Others (ahem) can forget for a while. It really helps me to have a regular day to change all of the sheets. I have two sets of sheets for every bed to make it easy. 

Scrub toilets

It doesn’t take long to scrub toilets…if you do it every week! This would be a good one for the rest of the family to help with. Everyone can scrub a toilet and you’ll get it done in no time.

Empty your car

If your car is anything like mine, you acquire Starbucks cups, receipts and fruit snack wrappers over the course of the week. Pick a less busy day to sweep your car for trash and items that need to go into the house. 

Plan meals

When you’re planning your week, think ahead to your dinner and other meals. Will you have a late practice on Wednesday? You can plan a crock pot meal. Does your family love Taco Tuesday? Done! 

Shop for groceries

Get into a rhythm for grocery shopping and you’ll find life so much easier. My grocery shopping routine is so set that I barely even think about it anymore.

Prep for meals

Some people really like to cut up vegetables and do other meal prep for the week. If you are very busy, you can save a lot of time during the week by taking a few hours to meal prep. You can even make entire meals ahead and freeze them. 

Write down your weekly goals

Sometimes the week can get away from you before you’ve even started. To prevent that from happening, make a habit of writing down your weekly goals. Sunday evening or Monday morning would be a great time to do this. 

Pick out your clothes or your kids clothes for the week

If you (or your kids) spend a lot of time and effort picking clothes out each day, it could save a lot of time and energy to pick out your clothes for the entire week. If you decide to do this, you will need to have a place to store the outfits for each day. 

Your weekly list can include anything that makes your life easier and better. Don’t be afraid to be creative! If you need to build some self care into that weekly routine, absolutely do it! 

example of weekly routine

Our weekly household routine is VERY simple. It’s easy to stick with and therefore very effective.

The first thing you should know is that I absolutely hate being productive on Sunday. So all of my weekly planning happens Monday morning. If you feel better starting that weekly routine on Sunday, though, go for it!

Sunday Night – Peek at my work calendar to see what is coming Monday and Tuesday

Monday Morning – Meal Plan, Map out Week and order Groceries. Wash towels. 

Monday Afternoon – Pay bills

Monday Evening – Pick up Groceries

Friday – Order and pick up supplemental weekend groceries

how do i write my weekly routine?

You can take a couple of different routes to write your weekly routine. One way to keep track of your routine is to write it down in a paper planner or bullet journal. The Full Focus Planner has a section for routines. Although it doesn’t have a weekly routine space, you could repurpose another routine page for that purpose. 

A bullet journal is another great place to write down your weekly routine. Because the layout of a bullet journal is flexible, you can be creative in how you write down your weekly routine. I recommend using a sticker to mark the page so you can easily reference your routine when needed.

If you prefer digital tools, you could also write it down in the notes app on your phone so you can easily refer to it anytime. 

If you’re like me and you forget things easily, putting your weekly routine tasks on your calendar can be a great way to remember them. (This is what I do.) I create recurring reminders on my calendar to make sure I leave time for my weekly tasks. 

You could also create a weekly Kanban board and move the items from “To Do” to “Done” as you complete them. A Kanban board is a great visual reminder of your weekly routine. You can download and print a Kanban board if you want a physical board. You can also use a digital tool like Trello to keep track of your weekly routine. 

weekly routine checklist

Creating a weekly routine can help your week go so much more smoothly. You’ll be sure to get the truly important weekly tasks done. Remember to keep it simple when you create your morning routine. You can always add steps or tasks to your weekly routine as you go along. The key is to pick a weekly routine that is achievable and makes your whole week better!