When it comes to time management, I feel like you can read all the books and articles you want, but nothing will change until you figure out what works for you.

For example, my intended routine is to get up at 6:45 every weekday morning and go to the gym. I can have plenty of time to get ready for work as long as I’m in the shower at 8:00. I seem to go through phases where this happens more regularly than others. There are definitely weeks when I don’t wake up when I’m supposed to and go work out in the afternoon instead, but for the most part, I try and do it in the morning.

HOWEVER, I’ve realized that Mondays often need to be an exception. I’ve always had a sort of slump on Sunday evenings, and I tend to get grumpy or overwhelmed thinking about the week ahead. In school, it was usually stress about homework or upcoming tests, whereas now it’s more about making sure things are ready for lunches and dinners. This mostly involves cutting and packaging any fruits and veggies I want to have on hand. It’s also nice to go into the week with the kitchen cleaned up and the apartment in order. But sometimes, it all just seems like too much, and I’d rather just have a nice Sunday evening and get to bed at a reasonable time! On those weeks, I’ve found that I can be really productive if I get up at my prescribed 6:45 on Monday but do all of my Sunday night tasks instead of going to the gym. I can roll out of bed, cut up all the fruits and veggies, unload the dishwasher if it needs it, organize my to-do list (which I keep on scrap paper from coupons I’ve printed that didn’t take up the whole page…yep), write a blog post, etc., and get to work feeling totally on top of things.

An important part of this whole routine, though, is giving myself grace. It would be easy to beat myself up for not doing these things on Sunday and for not going to the gym on Monday morning, but instead I choose to be pleased that I got so much done. And, I can hit the gym hard come Tuesday morning!

That’s what works for me. But like I said, you can read all the blog posts you want and still not be organized or efficient, because what works for someone else might not work for you!

Do you have any routines that help streamline your week? How do you go about managing your time?