I failed miserably this Monday because I overslept and still felt tired all day after multiple cups of coffee. I have an alarm on my phone that goes off for when I should be walking out my apartment door to catch my train on time to get to work and it was that alarm that got me out of bed. Oops! While I had a very fun and productive weekend, I failed to plan ahead to make my Monday and the rest of the week easier. During my lunch break on Monday, I sat down and planned ahead so the rest of the week would hopefully go by a lot smoother!

Write It Out

I am a big fan of to do lists and it is the only thing that keeps me sane! My work bag and desk are covered with them because I am always making a new one. I start off each day with a daily to do list covering work and personal related tasks that I hope to get done that day. I also have a long list with the big tasks that need to get paid that week like paying rent or going grocery shopping.  After work, I will try to achieve a few tasks like laundry, clean the kitchen or go to the gym. Once I complete the task, I can easily check it off of my list.

Make Time For A Life/Work Balance

This is something I am still trying to work on because when I get home from work, I usually just drop my work bag on my floor, kick off my shoes and lay on my couch in cozy pajamas for a few hours. Then I go to bed discouraged feeling like I got nothing done that day. I started designating one or two days a week after work that I can eat an easy dinner on the couch and catch up on my shows and then the rest of the week I plan to clean up a room or start laundry. Wednesdays are my date nights with Jake so I try to keep those evenings free for social plans.

Plan Ahead

On the weekends, I try to balance relaxing, sleeping late and getting ready for the week ahead. I will make sure all of the laundry is put away, outfits are planned for the week ahead and that I have food for lunches that week. It takes an hour or so to tidy up my apartment and run my dishwasher, but it makes my Monday so much easier when I’m not tripping over things on my floor. On Sundays, I like to wash all of my towels and bath mats and while I wait for them to dry, I make sure everything is put away in its proper place making getting ready in the morning a lot easier for the upcoming week.

Set a Bedtime and Stick to It

Okay, this may sound dramatic but lately, I have been making it a rule to go to bed at a certain time and it has been helping me improve my life dramatically. I will schedule everything I need to get done that day around when I know I need to get into bed that night. There were nights that I would take a shower after 11pm and be stuck staying up until after 1am to make sure my hair was dried before bed. When I get into bed before 11pm, I know I will get enough sleep that night guaranteed.

Plan Meals for the Week

When I first started to live alone I found it very easy to skip dinner at night and just snack instead. Luckily, this didn’t last long because this girl needs to eat! I started to go to the food store once a month and do a big shopping trip picking up all of the essentials. Since I live alone, I try to get as many frozen foods as I can so food doesn’t go bad before I can eat it.  During the week, I will take advantage of free shipping at Target.com and will have soups and snacks along with other household essentials delivered to my door. Seems pretty lazy, but I don’t have that much free time and living in an apartment building makes it a process to bring bags of food up to my floor after walking home with my hands full. It is super easy to have everything delivered to my building with one click! Whenever I run out of something, I can quickly add it to my shopping cart and usually on Fridays I click to order.