Ah, Sunday. One of the best and worst days of the week. It’s the one day that you’re allowed to lounge around the house in your pyjamas. All day. And without feeling as though you’re wasting time. But Sunday is also the best day to reset your mind and body and prepare yourself for the week ahead. It doesn’t have to be a day of nothing.
It can still be relaxing and full of a calmness that the busy, working week doesn’t allow for. But it can also help encourage you to feel motivated for the week to come.
Plan The Week Ahead, Realistically.
On Sundays, you may feel like the last thing you want to do is plan the week to come. It’s the one day I don’t have to think about it, you may say. But, dedicating time on Sunday in order to organise your week will feel like a massive achievement. And it is!
The best time on a Sunday to sit down and figure out the week to come? The morning. By beginning your day with a plan of action for the week ahead, you’ll feel a weight lifted off your shoulders that will allow you to enjoy your day better than if the busy week ahead was dawning on you, in a chaotic mess in your head. So, get a pen and paper or a laptop, and figure out what your week looks like. Realistically. It’s always important to aim to do as well and as much as you can but don’t project that you’ll do those five tasks that each take around four days to complete, in that single week. Think carefully about the time you’ll have in order to do what you set out to do in your plan.
Will you have time to take the cat to the vet on Tuesday after work? Or will you be able to get that assignment in on time if you go out with your friends on the Wednesday? When you’ve written out your plan for the week, it shouldn’t feel like an impossible mission you’ll likely fail. Of course, life can get hectic but make sure that you don’t put further pressure on yourself by imagining there are actually 30 hours in a day! Allocate the right amount of time to each task you need to do and stick to it.
Do That Thing You’ve Not Got Around To Yet
It’s important to do something on your day off that isn’t to do with work or school, or university. A lot of the time, during the week, we can get so caught up in doing everything that has to be done that we often have no time to do anything outside of that. And so, take Sundays as the day to do what you’ve not gotten around to yet. It could be small and even trivial things. For example, you may want to have a half an hour bath and listen to music since you’re always only able to have a shower in the mornings before you have to be somewhere! Or it could be more significant things. Like meeting up with the friend that you’ve now not seen in two, three, could it be…four months?!
Whatever you decide to do, in doing something that the week’s busyness doesn’t allow, you’ll get to the end of Sunday and feel as though it’s been more than just a doing-nothing kind of day.
Decide On Something To Do During The Week Ahead, Outside of Routine
It can really benefit our mental health if we have some type of ‘goal’ that we can aim towards during a week that feels like non-stop work. Planning a coffee date with your best friend or a cinema trip with your sister for the week ahead can help make the week feel like stressful. It also puts less stress on your Sundays.
Many of us see Sunday as the only day we’re actually allowed to relax and take a break…even on Saturdays, it somehow still feels like the working week. And that can feel like a lot of pressure to do every face mask in your cabinet, have an hour long bath with the perfect cup of peppermint tea and lounge around in your favourite robe. But not every Sunday is like that. Relaxation doesn’t have to be scheduled in…especially not on one day. It’s something that we need throughout the week in order to maintain our sanity. So by taking time on Sunday to decide to do something outside of your normal weekly routine, you’ll end up feeling truly relaxed since you know that there’s something other than work ahead.
Tidy Your Home
After a busy week, your home becomes a sort of haven from the outside world. But often, it can look far from a haven of any sort. A great thing to incorporate into your Sunday routine is tidying your house. Not only will you have a more easy-to-navigate home, but your mind will feel clearer. Untidy surroundings influence our ability to relax, and so Sunday is the perfect day to clean up!
Avoid Technology (A Bit)
People love to stay home on Sundays since they’re not forced to be anywhere and because of this, we often feel disconnected to the world. But, thanks to social media, we never really are. It’s important to try to avoid using technology too much on Sundays since relaxation and phone/laptop/computer screens don’t really go hand in hand. Staying off things like Instagram and Twitter on Sundays will allow you to focus on yourself and you can do the things you want to do…and not lie in bed all day, scrolling through your phone.
Go Out
We often feel as though we need to have somewhere to go in order to go outside. But sometimes, aimlessly wandering, alone or with friends or family, is amazing. In a society that is always on the go and rushing to get from A to Z, taking a stroll with no particular destination is incredibly relaxing. During the spring and summer months, walking through a park with the sun warm on your skin is a wonderful way to do something without spending tons of money. On Sundays, we often feel it is our right to stay home. And of course, after a tiring week, that is a nice thing to be able to do. But, it can often do you the world of good to get out. Get out and see people. Go and get yourself a coffee in the morning. Go and meet up with a friend. In terms of your mental health, staying indoors, even just for a day, can be damaging. And so, just getting out is simple and healthy for your mind and body and a great addition to your Sunday routine.
A Sunday routine will never be consistent. There’ll be different things you may plan to do or you’ll have a very important day of doing nothing planned. Either way, no two Sundays may be the same. But, in considering all these things, you can figure out a framework to structure your Sunday and get the most out of it, for both relaxation and motivation for the week ahead purposes.
