A Mom’s Guide: How To Plan Your Week For Success

Taking time to plan your week will help you in staying focused and being successful in completing tasks, developing habits and finishing goals.

Remember those days before you had a family and kids, the days when you only had one schedule to keep track of-your own?! 

Those were the days when I could remember it all and not forget important appointments. When I didn’t forget to go to my dentist appointment or that I was meeting a friend for coffee. I was only responsible for myself.

Now as a family of 6, I need to have a plan in place. Not only a plan, a written plan. I don’t have enough brain space to keep track of 6 peoples schedules and activities. 

Why You Should Plan Your Week

“Failing to plan is a plan to fail.” -Benjamin Franklin

Having a plan in place for the week gives me direction. I know who or what is most important and I am less distracted by mindless tasks or scrolling on my phone.

I’m someone who loves routines and structure and when I don’t have either of those in place I’m like a bouncing ball-jumping from task to task uncertain of where I’ll land or who I’ll hit in the process.

Planning is important as it helps you use the time you have wisely and efficiently. It gives your  week purpose and will lead to success.

Having a weekly plan will streamline your schedule and give your brain a break. Everything will be written down and your brain won’t have to remember all the things!

Grab your Weekly Planner Printable

in the Freebie Library

How To Plan Your Week

Take Time To Plan

This step may seem obvious, but without taking this step you won’t have a plan to follow for your week.

Choose a day and time to look at the week ahead. Try to pick a day and time that can be repeated each week to make it habitual. 

I like to take 20-30 minutes on Sunday evenings to look over my week. 

Review All Your Calendars

Do you use more than one device or planner to record your appointments, activities and schedule? Is there more than one person in your household?

Then you probably have multiple places that you need to check before planning your week.

For myself I have 2 places that I record appointments and activities.

The first place I look at is my shared family Google calendar. 

Right now only myself and husband add items to this calendar, but I’m anticipating that once my children are a few years older they will need to be adding activities to this Google calendar also.

Next I look at my paper planner. I keep this planner at my command center in the kitchen where it is easily visible and accessible. This planner is for my whole year and contains doctors appointments, birthdays, anniversaries and dental visits. 

After looking at both calendars (online calendar and paper calendar) I can then plan around those appointments and activities. 

Choose Your Top 3

You only have so much time each week so choose the top 3 items that must get done this week. These are things that can’t wait any longer to be done, they must be done this week or other areas of your life will be affected by them.

An example of a Top 3 item could be grocery shopping. Food is a daily necessity and although many of us don’t enjoy this task it still needs to happen.

Maybe you are working toward a personal goal or a work goal. This is a great place to specify an action step toward those goals. 

Make Your Weekly Schedule

Now it’s time to fill in your week and make sure you get things done! 

When planning your week you want to make a basic layout of what you will be doing each day. 

It does not need to be detailed down to each half hour.

Think about your day in time blocks (morning, afternoon and evening) and plan accordingly. 

Write in appointments and activities first. Then write in action steps for your Top 3 To-Do’s. The day and time you will accomplish that item. 

Plan Meals 

Make a rough plan for dinner meals. Per a reader survey, lack of meal planning is a big stress for moms.

Take a few minutes to check your pantry and fridge and come up with 3-5 dinner meal ideas for the week.

If you need tips on how to meal plan for the week head to this post to get you started!

Exercise

Don’t forget to add exercise to your weekly plan. As moms we can quickly put ourselves and our health last on the to-do list.

Keep yourself healthy and happy by adding exercise or some form of movement to your weekly schedule. 

Walking, running, bike rides and park play dates are all free ways you can get moving and the kids can participate also. 

One fun way I like to get active with my kids is by having a dance party. We crank up the volume and dance around the living room for a good 20 minutes. 

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Communicate Your Schedule To Family

Your week has been planned and you’re excited to get stuff done! 

Make sure to communicate your schedule with family members and double check there are no conflicts in the schedule.

RELATED: Kids Daily Routine And Schedule

Tools To Help You Plan and Succeed

Free Weekly Planner Printable

This Weekly Planner printable is perfect for planning out your week. Your Top 3 priorities are front and center on this planner. 

There is plenty of room to write in daily activities and appointments you need to remember. 

I also added a section in each day to record your water intake. Drinking more water is one of my goals and adding it to my weekly planner seemed like the perfect place to keep track of it!

The planner also includes space to write in your meal plan and exercise plan for the week.

This Weekly Planner printable has everything you need to stay organized, fit and successful!

Paper Planner

There are so many choices for paper planners. You can find planners at the Dollar Tree.

Digital Calendar

Google, Outlook, and icloud are all free and good options for digital calendars. You can sync with other family members and get all schedules and activities in one place. 

I personally like using Google calendar and have it synced with my icloud calendar. I can access it from my phone or online.

Wall or Desk Calendars

If you like hanging a calendar in your home for all family members to see you can find many options on Amazon.

Writing Tools

Papermate InkJoy pens are my absolute favorite for writing in my planner. They are a bright gel pens that don’t leak or smudge!

It makes planning a little more bearable when I can make it pretty 🙂 

If you are using a white board calendar then fine tip Expo markers are great. They don’t have a strong order. You can also get some fun colors to keep each person’s schedule organized.

I hope these ideas for setting up your weekly schedule will guide you in planning your week for success.