Well, it's Friday and it's been a busy and productive week but now I'm ready for some down time.  Fri-YAY as I like to say!  It will be a great weekend full of volunteering, family time and much needed rest.  Bliss, actually.  And I will enjoy every minute of it.  

I will even enjoy my Sunday afternoon or evening Work Week Prep.  
Monday will be here before you know it and you will likely have voicemails, emails, and snail mail waiting for your attention as soon as you start your day.  I uses to walk into Monday like this:  "Well, hello Monday, what have you got for me?"  I would spend have of the day on Monday trying to figure out what happened the previous week and what I had scheduled for myself in the current week. By about 2 pm on Monday, I was frustrated, behind and tired with a full week ahead  to get through.  Something had to change. 

A friend and colleague of mine, Chris Jones, held an Authentic Leader workshop and I had an "Ahhhh-Haaa" moment.  Actually, I had a few but the one relating to this post was this: If I take an hour on Sunday to prepare for my week, I'll feel more confident starting my Monday.   Mondays are now one of my favorite days of the week.  I'm not kidding.  

So what do I do on Sunday that makes such a difference?  It's nothing miraculous guys.  

1. I review the past week.  Who did I meet?  How did I do on my goals?  What did I rock?  What can I improve on?  And I make a list of 5 things I learned from last week.  

2. I review my upcoming calendar.  Ya'll- sometimes I find some doozie sized mistakes.  3 meetings overlapping.  2 board meetings to prepare for on the same day.  Etc.  The key is to catch these items early.  Maybe my calendar is extra packed: good to know.  Time to get my head straight for the busy week ahead.  Maybe there is a lot of open time.  Ok, maybe I can set up meetings with clients or put in a few miles of walking.  Know before you go.

3. I plan our dinners.  Dinnertime, ugh. For many of you who love to cook and continuously delight your family and friends with your skills, making a meal must be wonderful.  For me, a challenged cook, it's frustrating and annoying.  I do not like to cook.  For me, it's a chore.   So, I plan it out.  I do my grocery shopping on the weekend and make a plan for our dinner meals. 
You didn't read anything about lunch planning, did you?  Well, that's because meal prepping for my lunch meals is an area I am still improving on.  Check back in a few weeks to see how I'm doing.  Please, accountability is this girl's friend. 

4. Prepping my outfits for the week.  With the weather app in hand, I put together 7 work outfits.  I used to do 5 outfits but I realized that some days I just change my mind and want something different so I have 2 "extra" outfits ready.   If I haven't worn items in a while, I'll try them on. They are ironed and hung up and ready for the week.  I even decide on the shoes.   People- this saves me not only time on work week mornings but it keeps me from having to make the big decision of navy or black slacks in the morning.  Try it.

And 5. 
Number 5 is the most important of all.  Take some quiet time to reflect.  I use my time to thank God for the blessings of my life.  I ask for strength to be a little better than last week, to love more, to understand more, to learn more.  I ask for growth.  I prepare myself for a successful week.  

Now, it rarely goes as expected.  A fender bender.  A leaking refrigerator.  An elderly pet.  A client who woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  Life happens.  But I will continue to prepare for a wonderfully, successful and abundant week on Sunday.  I deserve it. 

-Carol Taylor