Episode 30: Planning a Successful Week

I think that one of the main reasons that I became a teacher is because I love to plan. One of my favorite things to do is to take the big picture and break it down into smaller units. It is so satisfying to make tasks more manageable. That is exactly what we’re going to be doing in today’s episode, all about planning a successful week.

Last week, in episode 29, we talked about how to easily plan your month. If you didn’t check out that episode, you probably want to do that before you dive in today. We’re going to take our monthly plan one step further to break it down into a manageable weekly plan. After you have started planning a successful week, you can be confident that you are hitting your goals and priorities. Is there any feeling better than that? 

Planning a Successful Week: Advanced Planning

Just like with monthly planning, you want to try to think about the week ahead as early as is reasonable. Last year, I used to only work Monday through Thursday. Because of that, it made sense for me to plan for the following week on Thursday afternoons. This year though, I’m working Monday through Friday. I set aside time every Friday afternoon to plan my week. Heck, sometimes my planning even shifts to Sunday, if Friday gets away from me. Either way, try to set aside a consistent time that you can sit down and look at all that needs to be accomplished in the upcoming week. 

Planning a Successful Week: Notebook Pages

When planning my week, I use the next two blank side-by-side pages to map out the whole week in my MAP Book (what’s a MAP Book? Find out here!). At the top of the page, I write “Week of December 15th.” Then, I use the space below it to write all of my to-dos for the week. Remember, this is your weekly plan, not your daily plan. Think of this almost like a menu that you will select your daily plans from later.

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Planning a Successful Week: Review Monthly List

The first thing that I do when planning a successful week is I review my monthly list that we talked about in the last episode. I decide what action steps I can take that week. Next, I add them to my weekly notebook page. This is a good time to notice if your monthly list isn’t getting any shorter. You don’t want to wait until the last week of the month to realize that you haven’t accomplished any of your monthly tasks. So be aware of that as you map out your week! 

Planning a Successful Week: Notebook Review 

Next, I go through the last week or so of my notebook to see if there are any action items that haven’t been finished that need to move forward. I try not to leave any task behind. When the task no longer needs to be done, I cross it off. If it still needs to be done, I either add it to my weekly page for that week or add it to the appropriate monthly list to be done in the future. 

This is also where I review monthly, quarterly and annual goals, very quickly. It’s usually just a quick glance to remind myself what they are. That helps me take a second to consider if there’s anything that needs to be done this week to move that goal forward that week.   

Planning a Successful Week: Google Calendars 

Finally, I pull up my Google calendar that I share with my family. I look at the events that we have going on that week and make sure that they’re reflected on my weekly page. This is also where I write down any tasks that pop into my mind, if I realize I forgot to purchase a birthday present or my kiddos need new riding gloves for their horseback riding lesson on Friday. 

Looking at my Google calendar also helps me to see my work blocks for the week. I do use a second page to map out my work tasks for the week. By seeing the social events that we have going on, I can better assess how much time I’ll have and what I might be able to accomplish in that week. 

Plan My Week with Me! 

Let’s do this! The week that I am planning right now is November 28, 2022.

At the top of the page, I am going to write “The Week of November 28th”. Below that, I am going to write two things that matter most for me this week : all galleries edited and prep for my daughter’s birthday. I am going to make a note of what I am doing for my workouts this week and what I am going to have for lunch.

After reviewing my December list, I’m realizing that I need to make a packing list for a surprise getaway we’re taking my daughters on. That reminds me that I also need to order snow pants for myself. I also need to wrap my daughter’s birthday gift, get a card and create an Elf on the Shelf plan for the week. 

Looking at my calendar, I’m also realizing that I want to do teacher gifts earlier rather than later.  I write a note to purchase cards and talk to my daughters to decide what we want to gift the teachers. I’m going to review my quarterly goals real quick and remind myself that I am taking December off of photography. Even though I’ll be off of work,  I make a note that I need to keep up with my early wake-ups this week since they got away from me over Thanksgiving. 

Plan with Me: Work Tasks

That was the personal side, now it’s time to think about work tasks that need to happen this week. I need to wrap up my financial book that I’m reading and deliver 2 galleries to clients.  In addition, I hope to finish on-boarding a new coaching client. 

And that’s it – less than 5 minutes, in and out!  When I go to plan each day individually, I will pull from this master list to know what I need to make happen over the course of the week in my MAP Book. 

Let’s Make a Plan!

Let’s take 5 minutes right now to plan out your week! Open up to your next MAP Book page, and write down your priorities for the week and any upcoming events that you have. Next, refer back to your monthly lists to see if there are any projects you need to make progress on this week.

Once that is done, write down any personal or business tasks that you want to try to tackle this week. Pro tip: be sure your action steps are actually action steps! Tasks may need to be broken down so that they are concrete and actionable. When you find yourself unsure if you completed a task or not, then it’s not actionable enough! 

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe on Spotify or YouTube so you don’t miss next week’s episode, which is going to be all about how to plan your day. So often I have clients tell me that they don’t have time to plan their day. OK, I hear you … but it only takes 5 minutes! Tune in to find out exactly how I plan my day so I can feel confident that I’m hitting all of my priorities and goals.

Finally, if you want to connect between episodes, be sure to give me a follow over on Instagram – @sharonlegercoaching. I would love to support you on your personal growth journey! 

Did You Love This Episode?

If so, be sure to share it with a friend – this helps busy moms like you to find me!

And finally, you can also check out these related episodes that I think you’ll be obsessed with:

Making Time for Personal Growth as a Busy Mom

How to Plan Your Day

How a 99¢ Notebook Saved My Life