For most of us, Sundays are for sleeping in and going slow. But if you’re business coach and founder of Big Ideas Rural Tori Kopke, they’re also the best day of the week to tackle a to-do list.
In a recent Instagram post Tori listed all her (excellent) reasons for her Sunday night sessions.
Among them:
- She feels more prepared for what’s coming down the line
- It maximises her work/life balance
- It makes Monday better
Point #3 is full of appeal, isn’t it?
As anyone who juggles many balls understands, the lure of being able to get ahead of something (anything) is attractive. But to start the new week having already anticipated it’s biggest time eaters- well could there be anything more smugly satisfying?
I think not.
As Tori told Flying Solo her Sunday planning sessions mean her Monday game is strong.
“My VA knows what is on the agenda for the week and where to start. It also means priorities are front of mind when I start the workday the next day. I believe your Monday sets the tone for your whole week- and if it starts off chaotic then you are trying to play catch up for five days. It’s just not efficient.”
Productivity coach Kate Christie often writes about the value of batch work for exactly this reason. If we take time out to streamline the processes and tasks that we know will inevitably crop up during the week we have more capacity for all the little surprises.
In a recent podcast episode for our beWell campaign, Driven founder Jurie Rossouw said he found value in batch tasking personal tasks, like devoting Saturday mornings to food prep for the week ahead.
It’s a ritual that Tori also tends to observe.
“Also Sunday I plan other things for our family- meal plan, shopping list, review key activities and appointments,” she said.
Of course Sunday doesn’t suit everyone’s routine and there’s nothing wrong with that. I find my best thinking often happens super early in the morning on a Tuesday when I’ve had time to dip my toe into the week ahead.
And as Tori points out therein lies the beauty of the sole trader life:
“I think as a solopreneur it is very natural to plan your business activities along side your personal life. Because flexibility is one of the greatest parts of working for yourself!”
Amen to that.