Every Sunday evening I hop on my computer with music going and a drink of water to do my weekly planning.

For me, weekly planning isn’t about planning to get all your to do’s done. Instead weekly planning is to make conscious decisions about your time and life. Rather than just do the to dos that life throws you, you are deciding what is important for you.

I like to get quiet before my weekly planning. I pray, but you can center yourself however you choose. The pausing gets you out of flight or fight mode where many live most of the time.

Once I am calm,  I think of my top 3 things that are most important to do or think about this week – usually gleaned from monthly planning and what my accountability partner Marcia and I talked about at our Thursday Skype chat. These I schedule into my Google calendar so I make time for them.

While I am in the calendar I look over the week to see if there is anything I need to prepare. Then I peek at the next few weeks as well.

Health is important to me so I write out my exercise schedule. Last week it was:

Sunday – swim at the beach
Monday – weights and yoga
Tuesday – walk with a friend
Wednesday – Zumba DVD
Thursday – off
Friday – weights and yoga
Saturday – Groove dance class

Then I plan my menu if I didn’t do a monthly plan. I include snacks which tends to be my downfall in healthy eating.

People are important to me as well so I plan time with my family and a friend or two. (An extrovert might need more social time.) Or I plan if I am invited to an event. Do I need a present? What will I wear? How do I get there?

And finally to keep myself wanting to get out of bed in the morning I make sure I have at least one thing to look forward to every day (some are from earlier planning).

Sunday – church, take pictures of the sunset at the beach
Monday – out to eat with my husband
Tuesday – morning walk with a friend, evening reading time
Wednesday – play the piano
Thursday – see the Street Performers or concert in the park with a friend
Friday – play with my visual journal
Saturday – farmer’s market with my daughter

If I am not having any fun or not taking care of myself or neglecting my relationships, it’s because I am not planning. What will your week be like?