How to Plan for a Productive and Stress-Free Week

Being a working wife and toddler mom who blogs on the side and volunteers in church weekly, I understand all too well the struggle of feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get things done. In this post I’m going to cover the process and planners I use to be productive and stress-free while reaching my goals. If you are looking for ways to plan for a productive and stress-free week, this process and planner may be for you!

Start with your goals

In order to plan for a productive and stress-free week, you have to first decide what that looks like for you. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Do you want to finish reading a book? Are you aiming to post a new YouTube video? Is closing two major deals at work at the top of your list? Whatever it is, define it and be specific.

Be realistic

You only have 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. If you have a family and/or any other obligations outside of just working, be realistic about how much you can actually get done and don’t overextend yourself. While it’s tempting to want to do all the things, adding too much to your plate will only induce more stress and will likely discourage you from doing any of it.

I’m not going to tell you how many things should be on your list, because each person is different and how much we can handle will vary. Just be real with yourself as you set your goals and don’t put more on your plate than you can handle.

Assign tasks to your goals

Once you have decided on what your goals are for the week, break them down into action items/tasks. This will be your to-do list for the week.

For example: if your goal is to publish a new YouTube video some of the tasks could be:

Create an outline for the video
Film the video
Edit the footage
Create graphics (thumbnail cover, social media promotional graphics)
Schedule the video
Promote on social media

The objective here is to capture every step that needs to be done in order for this goal to be met.

Factor in any appointments, meetings, or events.

Look at your calendar for the upcoming week to determine what obligations you have already placed on your time. Take note of doctor’s appointments, meetings, church events, birthday parties, etc, and write them in your planner.

Pray

I am a huge advocate of praying over your day and week. The Bible tells us that if we acknowledge God in all of our ways that He will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6). There are times when I will have decided that a certain goal needs to be met and God will advise me to direct my attention and energy elsewhere. He will also give me the grace to be able to accomplish what I have planned without experiencing burnout. Proverbs 16:3 puts it this way: ‘Turn to the Lord for help in everything you do, and you will be successful.’

Putting it all together

Looking at your to-do list and appointments/events list, determine which days would be best for each task. Using our example from earlier, your schedule may look like this:

Monday:

Doctor’s appointment
Work
Grocery shopping
Outlining Youtube video

Tuesday:

Work
Film YouTube video and edit

Wednesday

Work
Create graphics and schedule YouTube video

Thursday

Work
Networking dinner for work

Friday

Work
Small group meeting at church
YouTube video goes live – post on Instagram stories and Twitter about it

The goal here is to have a daily to-do list that is manageable and clear so that there are no surprises. This will allow you to go into each day knowing exactly what needs to be done so that you can execute it without second-guessing or feeling overwhelmed.

The planners I use to plan my week

First I want to put out this disclaimer: you do not need two planners in order to be productive. One will do just fine. For me personally, two planners work best because, in addition to working full time, I also have a pretty heavy workload on my blog and social media accounts. One planner is specifically just for content creation and scheduling.

The Dayspring 2021 Inspirational Weekly Planner

Once I started posting on my social media and blog account more frequently I knew I needed to get a planner solely for those platforms. There are so many dates and tasks that I have to keep up with: emails to my email list, Instagram posts going live, blogger training classes, blog posts being written, edited, and scheduled. All of the dates were beginning to get lost in my main planner so they now live in their own special place. This helps me keep track of exactly what is going on with my blog and social media and prevents me from missing anything. It also frees up space in my main planner which is used more for family and church obligations.

I like the Dayspring weekly planner because it is simple and straightforward but also incorporates a weekly, encouraging scripture. It has just enough space for me to log my daily tasks for content creation and is small enough for me to put in my purse or laptop case.

As a sweet bonus, in the back of the planner, there are designated pages to write down prayers, praises, and blessings. A nice little way to incorporate your relationship with God into your planning.

The Dayspring Devotional Planner

I am always down for a good planner and I live for a nice devotional. I love that Dayspring has combined the two into one with their devotional planner.

As far as the format goes, I couldn’t be happier. I am a checklist type of girl. I live for a good to-do list! Unfortunately, it’s really hard to find nice planners that include checkboxes next to each line. The Dayspring devotional planner does just that and I couldn’t be happier. Each weekday includes space for 14 different items to be listed and/or checked off. The weekends include just 7 but I have found that that is sufficient for me. I like that as I’m going through my planner I can check off each task and at the end of the day see clearly if anything still needs to be done.

As excited as I am about the checklist format, what sold me on this planner is the way it encourages you to connect with God. At the beginning of each month, there is a scripture and short devotional message and a place for you to reflect and take notes. Like the weekly planner, there is also a scripture printed for each week. Even better, in the back of the planner, there are tabs to write down any notes, things you are grateful for, your goals, and to-do lists. There is also a tab entitled “hope” which provides scripture references for a range of issues you may be having like addiction, anxiety, marriage problems, loneliness, and more. This is much more than just a planner, it is an amazing resource to connect with God and stay healthy spiritually.

Out of all the ways I tried to be more productive, nothing really worked until I began to be intentional about planning. Setting goals and using a planner that fits your style and personality is key for how to plan your week to be productive and stress-free. I pray that this post gave you some ideas of how you can better plan your weeks and days for success. Happy planning!

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