The Sunday Reset: How to Prepare for a Purposeful Week Ahead
How often do you think about the pace of your life? I think about it every Sunday when I sit down for my reset rhythm. This is a time for me to reflect, reset, plan and prepare for my week ahead. It creates space in my week and helps me to prioritize peace before my time gets away from me. Taking time to consider if your daily life is going how you would like it to, asking questions, reviewing the progress towards your goals; all of these things are valuable and should be done frequently. A reset rhythm is a chance for you to set a foundation that your week can build on, to set yourself up for success and take back control of your time.
Why You Need a Reset Rhythm (and what it really means)
The phrase “creating space” has become trendy language and has, in my opinion, lost the weight of its meaning. Our lives are very full. It’s common for most women to have a job, children (who have their own activities to be taken to), social or work events, and family demands all at once. There is a demand on your time all the time.
In the midst of all these demands it is incredibly difficult to find any time for yourself, and even harder to find time to just be. You don’t have space.
A reset rhythm takes more of that time but this commitment, unlike your others, will not only give you time back it will also give you space. It is a time to set your priorities, manage your calendar, refresh your space, prepare for the week ahead and establish peace as the tone for the next 7 days.
When you have a designated weekly reset rhythm it allows you to plan and keeps you from living reactively. A reset rhythm puts you in the driver’s seat of your life so you can avoid passive participant syndrome. It puts you in control of your time and energy before anyone or anything else has a chance to try and take it.
Reflection
What do you do during this reset rhythm? What could be so important about a weekly appointment with yourself? Well, the first step of any good plan and the first step of your reset rhythm is to reflect. This means aching questions.
- What did I do this week?
- How do I feel this week went?
- What worked well?
- What didn’t work?
The answer to each of these questions should then be followed by the question “why?” Why did prepping overnight oats each night before I went to bed work? Why do I feel this week was so challenging? Why did choosing all of my outfits for the week at once not work?
If you are going to grow and improve you must get good at asking questions and learning from both your success’’ and failures. However, it’s important to always look at your answers with grace and an attitude of learning. Never look at past missteps or mistakes with guilt. This will only deter you from further investigation and hinder your learning.
Reflection will help you to create better plans for the coming week and will also help you to better define success. For example, if you stuck to your workout plan for the week only 2 out of the 7 days it may feel like a failure. However, when you ask the questions and investigate you discover that 2 of the days you missed were completely out of your control. You then realize that 1 of the days you did at least ½ of your planned workout.
Journey Notes
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The other 2 days you found alternate ways to exercise; you took the stairs all day at work on Tuesday and on Friday you walked to pick the kids up from school instead of driving. This further information shows you that it wasn’t a lack of commitment or focus that was the issue but maybe your plan or expectations. You can now adjust your plan for next week and celebrate your efforts from this week.
Scheduling Rest
Reflection will give you all the tools and information you need to make the best plan for your week. With all you’ve learned from last week you can now make this week even better. After your reflection the second step of the reset rhythm is to set your weekly calendar. Your weekly calendar should be home to all of your commitments, appointments and events; this includes your rest and personal appointments.
That’s right you should schedule your fun and rest just like a doctor’s appointment. When you’re busy it’s easy to let time get away from you and only do what’s on your calendar, so why not put the most important things there? If you’re going to create more space in your life, if you’re going to prioritize peace your calendar should reflect that.
Scheduling time to read, family movie nights, a walk in the park, etc. at the beginning of the week and solidifying them on your calendar ensures that your time isn’t stolen by other things throughout the week. (Not sure what rest activities to schedule? Get the Practical Rest Plan) Don’t forget to also schedule your next reset rhythm, and to check in on your progress toward your goals. What is the next step you can take to make your dreams a reality? Add those tasks/projects/steps to your calendar to prioritize your future as well.
Resetting Your Space
Once your calendar is set it’s time to reset your spaces. Decluttering and cleaning your physical spaces as well as your digital spaces during your reset rhythm gives you a fresh start and blank slate to work with the rest of the week. Spaces that need resetting could include:
- Bedroom
- Bathroom
- Living Room
- Car
- Kitchen
- Back/Front Yard
- Downloads folder on your laptop
- Photos on your phone
- Email inbox
- Text messages
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Clearing out these spaces frees up mental space as well. When you have a lot of clutter around you it weighs on your mind if you don’t notice it. It creates pressure because things feel undone and overwhelming.
Prepare
After you’ve reset your spaces your rhythm should include some time to prepare for the coming week. To determine what your preparation should look like, ask the question: what can I do today to make my life easier on Wednesday or any other day this week? Preparation tasks will look different for everyone, it is a time for you to set up your week for success. Some ideas for preparation tasks are:
- Meal prepping
- Choosing your clothes for the week
- Laundry
- Grocery shopping
- Cleaning out your car
- Charging your devices
- Budget/bills
- Getting gas
- Cleaning out/repacking your work bag/purse
- Setting necessary alarms for appointments/commitments
- Purchasing tickets for events/movies
- Making reservations for restaurants/hotels
- Purchasing/wrapping gifts
Preparing is the time to clear the path for your week, remove any possible obstacles and set yourself up for success.
Audit
Your reset rhythm could be 15 minutes, it could be 3 hours. It could be done on Sunday, Saturday, or even Friday. It can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be, and because life never stays the same your reset rhythm will also need to change.
You will need to adjust and update your reset rhythm as your life changes. Auditing your reset rhythm each season to ensure nothing needs changing or upgrading will keep your rhythm relevant and beneficial.
Why seasonal audits? Because our lives typically change with the seasons. During winter there are more holidays, parties, family gatherings and events. During summer the kids are home from school and there are vacations to plan. The seasons each bring a new focus or adjustment that should be reflected in your reset rhythm.
Regular audits and adjustments will give you staying power. They keep your reset rhythm relevant and make it less likely you’ll ditch the practice altogether. Now it’s your turn, it’s time to design your own reset rhythm and prioritize peace in your daily life. Not sure where to start? Check out this article on Clearing Mental Clutter.
