As much as I’d like to agree with Paul Anka when he wrote “love makes the world go round and around” …but I disagree – it’s habits.

We’ve all got these “things” we do all the time – typically tied to some timeframe for reference. Some might be weird – we keep some to ourselves, some we’ll divulge on a fun evening with friends and a little liquid courage…and some are open game with the right audience.

I’ve got a dirty one…I print my emails.

Working just about my entire career in the IT/Internet industry and here you are reading the blog of a 41-year-old woman…who prints her emails. Alright, I’m not saying I print them ALL, I just print the ones I want to comb through and highlight (I do a lot of reading). I don’t own a kindle; I love paper books…and I prefer planners that are tangible. I don’t even know how I got here…this wasn’t supposed to be what I was writing about tonight.

Let me back up a sec…habits – the good, the bad, and the plain old U G L Y! Habits make the world go round and round. From the moment we wake up in the morning, to the time we crawl into bed at night, all day long we rinse and repeat, tiny things, big things. How are you feeling on Monday morning as most of us get up and go out for work?

Do you feel thrown into the week unprepared? What’s that saying? If you don’t run your day/week/month, it’ll run you; it’s 100% true. I’m not saying you need every moment of your life planned, because where would the sense of adventure be in that (adventure is my middle name)?! I’m saying if you get into the HABIT of planning out the important stuff, then it’ll leave you more quality time for all that good stuff!

So, for me, Sunday is the day I get ready for my week. Life has changed considerably in these last seven months – and things change more often than they stay the same, but I’ve kept the same concept going. It just works for me and my ducklings.

Backing up a second to the whole paper thing, I’m trying out something new. I’ve told you many times before I’m a list girl through and through. I love my planners and I have a daily one I love (you fill everything in yourself) but with launching my new website, building my business, three kids, and running a small country – I found myself re-writing my daily tasks, and that was getting old. Back when I was working my full-time job, I started using good old Microsoft To Do. After a little while of re-writing the same daily tasks over and over the lightbulb went on over my head…and I went back to Microsoft To Do. (I print out my daily to do list everyday…so it’s in my face; don’t tell anyone).

A Sunday well spent brings a week of content.

Sundays I typically:

• Plan my dinner menu for the week…while making my grocery list

• Grocery shop (isn’t always Sunday and depends on what I’m using up)

• Change my sheets

• Make sure my own laundry is put away (kiddos must do their own)

• Straighten my bedroom up – THIS IS IMPORTANT! Who wants to wake up in chaos? We’ll go into this more another time!

• Review my budget and pay any bills that need attention

• Confirm practices/activities and times for my people

• Write

What does your Sunday look like? Do you wake up on Monday morning thrown into chaos? Not sure what to pack yourself or your kids for lunch? No milk for cereal? Just opening the backpack now to find Friday’s leftover sandwich?

How can you take just a little chunk of your Sunday to make your Monday morning feel better than it does? How can you set yourself up for a successful week?

Xoxo,

Laura