How I Prep for the Week Ahead

I used to thrive at winging it. But now I need to prep for the week ahead to better set myself and my family up for success. It takes extra time but it’s this type of slowing down that allows me to speed up at the start of a week.

Here’s what’s currently working for me:

• Reoccurring 3 p.m. Friday calendar holds

• I review my week ahead to assess a few items:

• Are there any meetings I need dedicated focus time to prep for? If so, I block the focus time.

• Are there any meetings that I need to prep materials for or do I need any input or reviews prior to the meeting?

• Can I remove any meetings from the calendar? Ideally, I’d be able to remove about 20% of what’s on my calendar. It’s very likely other meetings will come up throughout the week, so I’d prefer to not be in back-to-backs right out of the gate.

• I’ll glimpse ahead at the rest of the month to see if I need to time block for any other deliverables.

• Weekend Family Meetings

• Bill and I each print our work schedules for the week and come prepared to review drop off and pick up schedules for the week.

• We assign who is handling which drop offs and pick ups and note any appointments or activities .

• At the end of a month, we typically try to review the next three months out to discuss any upcoming work travel or any babysitter needs.

• Meal Planning

• Add this to the list of things I used to wing. I fully embraced just being someone who doesn’t need to plan everything out…until I realized just how much working memory and energy this was taking on a regular basis.

• I prep for the week ahead on Sunday mornings and order groceries via Instacart or Whole Foods / Amazon Prime for a Sunday night or Monday morning pick up.

• I build in where we may need a McDonald’s pick up or a frozen pizza night to keep things easy.