This past Sunday, I went to bed in a really good mood to start the next week. My hair was curled, an outfit for work tomorrow was already picked out, and my alarm was set an hour earlier than usual so I could have enough time in the morning to start my day properly. This week, I want to be more mindful of living a balanced life because the previous week I was running from point a to point be and was exhausted by the weekend. By creating habits and actually using my daily to-do list, I want to be better at keeping my week organized where I can give 100% at work and still get a lot accomplished outside of work. I have been staying up late, hitting the snooze button in the morning, going to bed hungry and slacking on my fitness routine. Life is moving really fast around me, and I am so happy I had a weekend to recharge and get ready to start this week fresh.

Lazy Version of Meal Prep

I will never be able to be that girl that has a week’s worth of meals prepared in her fridge on a Sunday night. Instead, I stock up on easy to grab and go packaged food to throw in my bag for lunch and have my pantry stocked with bagels, mini muffins, and granola bars. Trader Joe’s has been my go to since moving to Philly because a lot of their frozen foods can be thrown in the microwave for 6 minutes and voila, dinner! My pantry has pasta, potatoes, frozen veggies and chicken to make easy, filling dinners. I also have cereals in my fridge just in case it is a Cheerios for dinner kinda night. Now that I have frozen vegetables in my fridge, I never have an excuse not to eat them during the week. I almost always have leftovers so I will add a cups worth in Tupperware for dinner.

Be Aware of the Hours in the Day

If I didn’t plan my days out, I would come home after work and never leave the couch. I started to find myself doing that a lot lately because I come home exhausted with no motivation to push myself to do anything. I want to appreciate each warm, sunny day during the summer months, so now I have a to-do list for each day that keeps me on track. In my planner, I have written down everything I need to do when I get off of work to keep me focused. I write down what days I can make time for the gym or when to run errands after work and schedule some time each day to clean my apartment.

Nighttime Routine

The last few months, I have neglected my little blog because I didn’t have the time in my schedule to make it a priority. Now each night, I put on an old episode of Sex and the City, hop into bed and do some journaling and blogging before bed. Most of the time, I can barely keep my eyes open at this point in the day, but I make myself write a little before bed. Recently, I have been putting a water bottle next to my bed each night and it has helped me drink water in the morning when I wake up and when I journal at night I usually go through a bottle. This has been a big game changer in helping me drink more water throughout the day.  I like to spend twenty minutes every night on my skincare routine before getting into bed. I kept neglecting to make it a priority at night and  I kept falling asleep after my shower without taking off my makeup or not applying one of the many skincare products I have in my bathroom waiting to be used.

Each day, I plan out ways to eat healthy, drink enough water, make my mornings easy, focus on work, make time to socialize and most importantly get to bed on time. I have an alarm on my phone that reminds me of when I should be in bed and I have been better at waking up in the morning when my body tells me too instead of snoozing for an extra half hour. Since I start work later in the morning, I try not to waste those precious minutes of sunshine by getting up and having time to eat breakfast and take my time getting ready. Since I am starting this week off with a solid schedule in place, I already feel more optimistic on a Monday because I know I can get a lot done and still have some me time.

Let me know in the comments what you wish you could get done during the week if you had more time. Anyone else feel better during the week when your life is in order? I really do believe that only we can control our own happiness in life, so this month I want to actively create ways to live happier days. With setting aside some “me time” each morning and night as well as making time for keeping up with the apartment and socializing with friends. It is a lot to balance trying to live a happy, fulfilling day, but with a little bit of scheduling- it is possible!