How to Create A Weekly Planning Routine

Have you ever looked back at the end of a week and regretted that you didn’t have time for the things you really wanted to do? I have.

Before you give up on the idea of having time for fun, rest or your hopes and dreams, I want to share the weekly planning routine that has worked for me.

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How to Create a Planning Routine That Works

The key to creating a planning routine that works is to observe your natural tendencies, preferences and habits and building the routine around them.

The Importance of Weekly Planning

The entire weekly planning process is a weighted blanket for my anxious soul and allows me to ease into the week.

Planning is also key to creating the life you want. It’s the foundation to creating daily and weekly routines. Routines help us develop healthy habits and those habits are the building blocks for our lifestyle. 

A planning routine also helps you track how you’re spending your time, what areas of your life need more attention, and where your life is aligning, or not, with your values. 

And as Benjamin Franklin so adequately put it,

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

So if you’re wondering if it’s good to plan your week, yes. Yes indeed.

Should I Plan Weekly or Daily?

One question that comes up a lot is whether it’s better to plan weekly or daily.

I recommend starting your week off with a plan for the week. This will serve as a way to clear your mind as well provide you with a daily roadmap.

Once you’ve planned your week, then you can revise and review your daily plans each evening to prepare for the next day.

Establishing a Weekly Planning Routine

Your weekly planning routine can be a lovely ritual that you look forward to each week. Having a routine also serves as signal that shifts your mindset for the new week.

To create your own routine:

Pick a day – Typically this will be a Sunday. But, choose what works best for you. I use to prefer Monday mornings. The beauty of a planning routine is you get to personalize it to suit your needs.

Choose a spot – Set yourself up for success by choosing a comfortable, quiet spot in your home where you’ll have privacy. I like to gather my planner and pen and sink into my chaise lounge every Sunday evening.

Plan a time – You can choose a certain time of day to carry out your weekly planning routine. Doing this will not only be your cue, but your family’s as well, letting them know this is your planning time and you need privacy.

Set the mood – Light a candle, play some background music, pray or meditate before you get started, whatever settles your soul and makes you feel rooted, grounded and ready to plan.

Gather your weekly planning tools – You’ll want some type of planner, your favorite pen, and maybe your phone or a physical calendar depending on what you use. If you’re new to planning, try the Best Today Guide or Laura Casey’s Powersheets Goal Planner.

5 Strategies for Weekly and Daily Planning 

• Reflect – An effective planning routine starts with you. (I bolded that statement because it is the most important aspect of any planning system.)

So, before you fill out your schedule or write your to do lists, it is important to identify your priorities and values. In other words, how do you want to spend your time?

Once you identify your priorities, dig one step deeper and ask why this important to you. Knowing your why will serve as motivation and accountability. (Because we both know there’s no shortage of things competing for our time.)

For example, I value living an active lifestyle with plenty of time outdoors. These activities are essential to me. When I ask myself why, I realize it’s because because moving my body makes me feel strong, capable and alive. And, being outdoors is very soothing to my soul and makes me feel grounded and connected.

• Rhythm – Cater to your natural rhythm. If you’re not a morning person, schedule appointments for the afternoon. If you have more energy for exercise later in the day, there’s nothing saying you have to exercise at the crack of dawn. As my daughter says, ‘you do you.’ You’ll be much happier and far more accomplished for it.
• Relax – Leave margin time between appointments and chores to give yourself time to breathe. This will keep you from always feeling like your rushing around from one thing to the next.

• Review – We have a tendency to write down long lists that aren’t always necessary. So, review your to-do list to
  • make sure you’ve set reasonable expectations,
  • that the tasks align with your goals,
  • and that each item is truly necessary for that day

Having a loose theme for each day keeps me from front loading my week or making unreasonably long to-do lists.

• Reset – Be okay with knowing you may not finish everything you planned. When that happens, reset your schedule accordingly. You might pick up where you left off the next day, or move a task to the next week or month.

Weekly Planning Checklist

A fulfilling schedule begins with a well-rounded, intentional plan for the week that incorporates each area of your life. That checklist would include:

Personal – It’s just as important to schedule personal time as it is chores and work. Otherwise, something else will always fill your time, leaving no room for what’s most important to you.

I include time with family, health and friendships. This might look like dates with friends, doctor visits, and personal appointments like getting my haircut or going for a monthly massage.

I also write down ways I’d like to rejuvenate, relax and unwind. Then, I plug those in throughout the week.

Your week will feel so much more balanced when you make room for personal time. You’ll also have more energy for your other responsibilities.

Home – The home category is where I bring decorating ideas and organizing projects to life. It’s also where I hold myself accountable for less glamorous household maintenance like filing, changing out light bulbs, or refilling any of the cleaners I make myself.   

I fit all of this into my week based on my weekly and daily household routines.

Work – I like to have theme days. So, Monday is for social media management. I spend Tuesdays on tech and training. Wednesday is writing day. And so on.

When I was still teaching, I found a rhythm for my weekly tasks. Planning on Monday, gathering materials another day, making copies of worksheets another day and then filing it all away for the coming week.

Maybe you can find an organic rhythm to your work that will flow nicely into a weekly routine.

I find it very helpful to focus on one main goal for each area. Then, I break those goals into daily tasks and assign those tasks to a day.

Scheduling Activities Over a Week

You’ll start filling in your calendar with what you value most; those lifestyle essentials you identified.

This means that when you’re scheduling appointments, those times you’ve blocked for your lifestyle essentials are non-negotiable. Then, you’ll schedule chores, errands, and tasks around those activities.

The Rocks, Pebbles, Sand Analogy

Have you heard the rock, pebbles, sand story?

The story goes that a university professor stood in front of a class and filled a jar with rocks about two inches in diameter. Then he asked the class if the jar was full. They said it was full.

Then, the professor added pebbles and shook them in with the rocks. He asked the class again if the jar was full. Again, they said yes.

The professor took a box of sand and added it to the jar, filling all the spaces between the rocks and pebbles. Then he asked the class once more if the jar was full. The class agreed the jar was full.

The jar represents your life.

• The big rocks are the important things in our lives like health, family and friends.
• The pebbles represent smaller, but still important things like work or school.
• The sand is all the small stuff that’s far less important.

If you were to pour these items in the jar in reverse order, starting with the box of sand, the rocks and pebbles wouldn’t fit in the jar. This is also true in our lives.

Weekly Schedule Ideas

Here’s a page taken from my own weekly routine.

The items in bold are scheduled and/or lifestyle essentials. They are the stepping stones to my personal goals. You may not have something for each area every day. That’s okay. However, do try to touch on those areas throughout the week.

Monday

• Personal: morning routine, walk, schedule any necessary doctor or personal appointments
• Home – file, wash sheets, evening reset
• Work – content planning

Tuesday

• Personal – morning routine, physical Therapy, meet friend for coffee
• Home – wash towels, evening reset
• Work – research

Wednesday

• Personal – morning routine, afternoon yoga class, rock on front porch in evening
• Home – wash whites, evening reset
• Work – write, business call

Thursday

• Personal – morning routine, physical therapy, watch newest episode of favorite show
• Home – shop for new dishwasher, evening reset
• Work – promote new blog post

Friday

• Personal – morning routine, pool time/read
• Home – buy new desk lamp, evening reset
• Work – write and schedule newsletter

Saturday

• Personal – morning routine, pick up for furniture for apartment
• Home – evening reset
• Work – check work email after newsletter goes out

Sunday

• Personal – morning routine, attend friend’s birthday party
• Home – weekly planning routine, order groceries, evening reset
• Work – I choose not to work on Sundays

You may prefer a more structured planning method with an hourly schedule. Since one of my life values is freedom, I do better with planning by order of events verses scheduling my day by the hour. The more you adapt to your natural tendencies, the more success you’ll have with planning.

You might have noticed I batch common work tasks and assign them to a certain day of the week. I also schedule certain household tasks on certain days. I think of them as theme days.

The details of creating your personal schedule are up to you. Just be sure that what you schedule takes care of you as a whole person. I promise, you’ll be much more productive when you focus on you and your priorities first.

How to Plan Your Week to Be Productive

It’s important to note that productivity is not the measure of your worth.

Not only that, but there’s a huge misconception that productivity equals always going and doing. We’re not created to live like that.

As an example, let’s take a look at my weekly schedule minus the things I value most.

Sunday

• Personal –
• Home – order groceries
• Work – I choose not to work on Sundays

Monday

• Personal: schedule any necessary doctor or personal appointments
• Home – file, wash sheets
• Work – content planning

Tuesday

• Personal – meet friend for coffee
• Home – wash towels
• Work – research

Wednesday

• Personal –
• Home – wash whites
• Work – write

Thursday

• Personal –
• Home – shop for new dishwasher
• Work – promote new blog post

Friday

• Personal –
• Home – buy new desk lamp
• Work – write and schedule newsletter

Saturday

• Personal – pick up furniture for apartment
• Home – clean the bathroom
• Work – check work email after newsletter goes out

I don’t know how reading this schedule made you feel, but my chest literally tightened as I read back over it. Basically, it’s filled with sand without any rocks or pebbles. In other words, there’s nothing in that schedule that is moving me toward my priorities and values. Unfortunately, I’ve lived like that more often than I care to admit, and it’s soul quenching every. single. time.

That is the beauty of intentional planning: It fills your cup and nurtures your soul.

7 Benefits of Weekly Planning

Some of the benefits I’ve experienced, and that I believe you will experience too, are:

• having time for activities you enjoy
• being in charge of your schedule instead of your schedule controlling you
• reducing mental clutter
• accomplishing goals
• having a renewed hope for the future
• rediscovering the you that’s been buried under roles and responsibilities
• feeling anchored or tethered rather than like you’re wandering around aimlessly

This list is by no means exhaustive.

I’d love to hear from you. What benefits have you discovered from your weekly planning routine?

FREE Printable Weekly Planning Template

To help you get started with intentional planning, I’ve created a simple weekly planning template to guide you during your weekly planning routine. Click the button below to download a free weekly planning template.

For more personal planning and time management tips, read:

• Weekly Routines: The Sunday Reset
• How to Create A Household Schedule
• How to Have a Productive Day
• 7 Proven Ways to Get Back in a Routine

Wishing you the simplicity and ease of a weekly planning routine.