You know how the saying goes – “A Sunday well spent brings a week of content.” Yes it’s true. Just few hours spent planning for the week on Sundays can really change the course of your week.

Why do I need to plan my week ahead you may want to ask? Because planning helps us evaluate what really matters to us and what we can actually dedicate our time to. When we don’t plan, we plan to fail and tend to allow important things slip past us.

If you follow these tips, you can find yourself living happier and peaceful with more time on your hands doing the things that are really important for your life.

1. Organize with a calendar/planner

I often emphasize on the importance of getting a planner in your life and that’s because with a planner, everything becomes easy. Get a planner that supports your lifestyle or career. You can also plan or schedule your activities on Google Calendar which makes things a bit easy because I believe 8 out of 10 people have a Google mail account. You can as well set a reminder on your calendar.

2. Prioritize

Ensure you make time for the most important things first. We often tend to spend our time doing things that may be necessary but are not very important, this is why you should prioritize. If an activity does not align with your goals, say NO.

3. Have a To do list – Your Action Plan

To-do-list comes in all forms of sizes, shapes and forms. It can be on your phone or a sticky note glued to your mirror, walls, office cabinet or screen. However you want it, keep it simple, be specific about it, and make it a handy one. Just make sure you have a list of things that needs to get done for each day.

4. Cut the things that aren’t important

For instance, if I know I need to go shopping, I won’t schedule that on a Monday or Tuesday morning. Yes I know it’s important but I also know I will be having a crazy work schedule during the week, so I might just cut out shopping until weekend. Once you identify the important and the unimportant things on your to-do list, it’s easier to cut out what is not important so you can spend more time doing what is really important.

5. Schedule a time for each tasks listed above

In case you don’t know, having accurate time estimation is a crucial skill in project management. Without it, you won’t know how long your project will take, and you won’t be able to get commitment from the people who are to sign it off. So before committing to anything, try to estimate the start time and the completion time for the task in order to effectively manage time.

6. Be Realistic. Ask yourself Is this too much?

This is the big question everyone should ask his or herself at the end of each planning. Doing too much can make you expect too much which often leaves one with a sense of guilt and discontentment. So as you plan for the week, be honest with yourself and slow down if you have to. Ask yourself this question, can you really achieve this at the end of the week? Is this too much? If you find yourself in any form of doubt, why not try focusing all your attention and energy on the ones you can achieve even if it’s just one thing. You progress better that way.

So, how do you plan for your week? Do you schedule, prioritize or have a planner that aids you as mentioned above? Do let us know your thoughts and opinions below.