Supercharge Your Week with a 30-Minute Sunday Reflect, Review and Plan Session

Are you feeling stuck in a rut? Intimidated by your never-ending to-do lists? Swimming with all your might just to keep treading water? If this is you, then all you need is 30 minutes on a Sunday to reflect and review the week that has finished, and plan for your week ahead. I promise, it will supercharge you days is a way you could never have imagined!

If you are a busy parent, home-maker, business person, smallholder, or all of the above and more, it can feel like you spend all your time just keeping plates spinning. Investing all your time and effort to just keep things ticking over can be hugely frustrating. What about those big dreams? How will you ever make headway towards the big projects?

Here’s my little secret.

It’s okay to dream big. But to see progress, you need to break it down. With little steps and regular check-ins, you can make progress and get the little hits of dopamine that you need to keep working towards your goals.

This is where the 30 minute reflect, review and plan session comes in. Put aside half an hour each Sunday and you can transform the way you use your time, and how you perceive your productivity.

The Importance of Reflection

“Why spend time mulling over what has already happened?” you may well ask. I can almost hear you crying out, “I have far too much to do to spend time pondering on the past!”

Well, self-reflection has many proven benefits for mental health, personal development and future behaviour.

First and foremost, spending a few minutes listing all your achievements over the day, week or month that has passed, forces you to acknowledge all the good work you have done. This is fantastic for your self-esteem and self-confidence. More on that later!

It also gives you the opportunity to think about things that could have been done better. In the heat of the moment when things are not going to plan, it is all to easy to blame a person (often yourself) for mistakes that have been made. Reflecting after the fact, when the emotion and urgency has been removed from the situation, will enable you to develop better systems for a future similar circumstance. This leads to improved decision making, learning from mistakes and better outcomes in future tasks. Additionally, this can result in better communication and more effective working relationships with others.

And that’s not all! Regularly checking in with your progress as compared to your To-Do list can help bring a touch of reality to your projected timescales for project completion. This is a great way to keep yourself accountable and on track to achieve your goals.

But most importantly (in my humble opinion,) regular reflective practice has been shown to make people HAPPIER and reduce stress.

Reviewing Your Achievements

Today’s society seems to be so focused on the negative. Experiences not living up to expectations. Things not going to plan. Not achieving all the tasks on an impossibly long to-do list.

Do we really believe that constant comparison with these incredibly high standards will help us to do better, to be better?

Let me tell you, it does not help one bit.

The best thing you can do for your own productivity, is to acknowledge all the fantastic things you have already accomplished. If you made a to-do list last week, take it out and celebrate all the items you have already ticked off.

Taking pride in your successes floods your brain with serotonin and dopamine. Big hits of these happy hormones will give you the motivation to keep pushing on towards your bigger goals.

Planning for the Week Ahead

Lastly, you need to make a plan for next week.

If you keep a planner or calendar, first block out the time you need for the non-negotiable tasks. Like dropping off and collecting your children from school, doing a grocery shop, laundry, housework, date night with your spouse etc. This will give you an idea of the time you have left to play with.

Next, have a look at your big ticket goals for the current month or year. What achievable, actionable steps could you complete this week in order to maintain momentum towards your goals? Make sure you allocate blocks of time on your planner for these.

Viewing it this way ensures continued progress as part of your bigger picture, whilst using your time most effectively and efficiently.

This method also keeps you accountable to yourself (and to anyone else you choose to share your to-do list or weekly schedule with).

How to Supercharge Your Week with a 30-Minute Sunday Reflect, Review and Plan Session

You can set up your 30 minute session to best suit you. For example, you may prefer to journal by yourself, rather than talk things through with someone else. You could create a voice note or video diary. Or simply think these points through during a dog walk or run. The choice is entirely yours.

Begin with a general overview of your week. How has it gone? What were the highlights? What could have been better?

Then list off your achievements of the week. It would be helpful to compare this against the plan you made last Sunday. Did you tick everything off your list? If not, was that because you set unrealistic goals for yourself? Or did some unexpected circumstances derail your progress?

Finally, take your learning forward as you plan for next week. Set SMART targets for the week ahead that align with your overarching goals for the month or year.