Hey, guys.
It's Chelsea from The Financial Diet,
and this week's video is brought to you by Wealthsimple.
And today, I wanted to talk about something
that's a little different.
But it's something that you guys have asked about a lot,
both when I've talked about it here on the channel
and also when I've talked about it on my social media.
I'm someone who now has what you could call a pretty
well-defined Sunday routine.
And I definitely don't have that because I'm
sort of this naturally type-A personality that
really looks forward to getting everything organized and ready.
In fact, I'm the exact opposite of that personality type, which
is precisely why I need to have this really intense Sunday
routine.
Both because I run a business, which is in and of itself very
demanding in terms of structure and organization,
but also just because I want to be
a healthy and productive and responsible adult human being,
I learned that I had to sort of get out of my own way
and set up a routine on Sunday that
allows my whole week to flow.
So much of our time and brainpower in life
is wasted running around doing things that we forgot to do,
picking up things we forgot to get at the store,
or wondering what we forgot we forgot.
But having a really solid Sunday routine combats that,
and it has allowed me as a very type-B night owl
to function as if I were a type-A morning person.
It's sort of fake it till you make it, but for your schedule
instead of for your self-confidence.
All of that to say, if you have been looking to accomplish more
during the week and be more focused,
I recommend creating a Sunday routine like mine
that will allow you to do it.
This is just my Sunday routine.
Yours might be very different, depending
on what you do every day and what your needs are.
But the point is that you make it
and that you stick to it so that it becomes second nature.
I promise you that the first Sunday you
spend operating like this, you will be overwhelmed
at how much easier, lighter, and honestly more fun your Monday
is able to feel and how much better the rest of the week is,
too.
The first thing I do every Sunday basically without fail
is make one big batch food item that I can freeze.
Now, the two easiest ones for this type of cooking
are pasta sauces and soups, and that tends to be what I make.
But as long as the food item freezes easily--
and you'd be surprised how many things can,
even things like quiche, baked goods, et
cetera-- you can do whatever you want on that Sunday.
The point is you have it for dinner that Sunday,
and then you portion it out into a couple different containers
and freeze.
I usually like to divide up the leftovers
into three two-person servings because I
live in a two-person household.
And that way, I can pull it out for dinner any time I want.
But you could also do it in individual servings
and take it with you to work for lunch, which is also something
that I do.
In fact, it's not uncommon for me to just
have a Talenti jar full of frozen soup slowly defrosting
on my office desk all morning.
Whatever it is for you, making that big batch
and freeze routine part of your Sunday
isn't just food for that week.
It's food for the entire next six months to a year.
And the better you label these items,
the more you'll be able to reach for exactly what you
need and know how long it's good for.
Your goal should be to work up to a freezer that's
full of a variety of frozen items
that you can pull out when you need.
And plus, cooking is a very soothing activity
that allows you to do something at the same time,
like listen to an audiobook or a podcast.
The second thing that I do every Sunday
is create an Excel spreadsheet for any big task
that I have coming up that week.
And now, I've said before many times on this channel
that I'm really bad with Excel spreadsheets.
But that's only half true.
I'm really bad with them when it comes to using them for math.
So I don't use it for my budget because I
know I would mess it up.
But when it comes to things that are just lifestyle,
like making lists, checklists, et cetera,
I'm actually really good at using Excel.
And it really keeps me accountable.
For example, I have my civil wedding
at the end of this week--
whoo.
Yay me-- and that requires a lot of logistics and remembering
little details, especially because we have a few people
coming in town for it.
And so I have a pretty massive Excel spreadsheet going
that has columns for everything from cleaning, to grocery
shopping, to you have to go down and get your marriage license
at city hall, and just all this random
stuff that is so easy to forget when you're not
paying attention to it.
There's something so satisfying about going
into those little cells and turning them gray
once you've completed the task.
And it's also really nice to know
that once it's all written out, you
don't have to worry about remembering
all those little details because they're laid out for you.
It won't happen every week.
But any time you have some sort of big task with lots of little
moving parts and things to remember,
make sure to make an Excel spreadsheet--
or maybe use an app that works for you for list making--
to track this activity for you and make sure that you're not
having to remember the details on top of actually having
to execute the task.
The third thing I do on Sundays is actually
a fairly new addition to my Sunday routine--
I would say since maybe the holidays.
But it's been huge, and that is scheduling
at least two activities per week that are specifically
about personal development.
Now, this could be anything from exercise
to taking an online class to cooking something new to even
calling your grandmother and spending an hour on the phone
with her.
The point is that these tasks are not
about spending money, drinking alcohol, paying for restaurant
food, or just zoning out in front of something you've
already seen a million times.
You should definitely have those activities
that are just about letting go and turning your brain off
for a while.
But it's so easy for our social calendar and our free time
to become full of those kinds of activities
and to have almost nothing in them that's
really about making us a richer or smarter or more thoughtful
person.
Obviously, right now, since I'm still just getting into it,
pilates is kind of taking up the bulk of that time.
But since I received a wok for Christmas
and have already been pretty into Asian cooking before that,
my big thing that I want to work on
is really expanding my repertoire of Asian cuisine.
By the way, the Woks of Life, who are also in our book,
is a great website to check out if you're interested in getting
into more Asian cooking.
You might have different goals every week,
and the activities might change.
But the point is making sure to schedule
that time for personal development,
just like you would a meeting at work,
makes you much more likely to actually get it done.
The next thing I do may not be for you.
But as someone who has struggled with skin
issues her entire life, I make sure to do
a much more fleshed-out skincare regime on Sundays.
I have the time to dedicate to it
and kind of the mental energy to spend a lot of time touching
and looking at my face in a mirror, which,
if you have skin issues, you know
is not always the most pleasant thing.
I typically do a face mask, a toner, a cleanser,
a whole routine that I don't always frankly have time
to do during the week.
While I'm doing my face mask, I'll
also probably do my nails or anything else
that needs attending to.
The point is whatever part of your body or appearance
you're having a hard time with, make
sure to dedicate that energy to it on Sunday,
when you can really lean into it and give yourself
what you need.
It's not just about relaxing.
It's also about starting that Monday off
on a much more confident note.
So the second to last thing that I will do almost without fail--
and I know this sounds like I'm a three-year-old, but whatever.
It works like you can't believe--
is I set out my outfit for the next day,
and I pack myself a lunch to take to work.
And I actually do this basically every night.
But on Sunday, it is so important
just because I know that nothing is
going to be worse on a Monday morning
than running around my apartment trying to figure out
what to wear and what to eat.
I have a big standing mirror in my room,
and I typically just hang up my outfit
on a hanger on that standing mirror.
And I pack whatever I want for lunch
and put it all in a little bag and put it in the fridge
so I can just grab it and run.
Not everyone's into clothes, but I
think it's pretty undeniable that when
you feel good, comfortable, and confident in what
you're wearing, the whole day feels better.
There's nothing more distracting than that feeling of tugging
at your sleeve or feeling self-conscious
because something doesn't fit right
or you have a stain on it.
You want to make sure that your clothes are just
an afterthought and that you can get past them to do
what you need to do.
And the best way to do that is to plan out
exactly what you're going to wear
when you have a clear, open mind and the time
to actually think about it.
And when it comes to bringing a lunch,
I think we all know how easy it is to just run to the corner
or order something online because you, once again, forgot
to pack a lunch.
But very few people, even true morning people,
are really that good about packing
a healthy and diversified lunch when
they're standing half asleep at their counter
on Monday morning.
Even if you do manage to throw something together,
it's guaranteed to be less appealing than something
you took time and energy to make nice the night before.
And the very last thing I do before I go to bed
is I check my email to make sure that there's nothing
I can get done ahead of time.
One of the worst things about Mondays
is that feeling that we've avoided
our professional selves for the entire weekend,
and all of that stuff is going to hit us like a freight train
when we come into the office.
And while I don't think you should become
one of those people who work seven days a week,
I also think that taking 30 minutes
to go through your email on a Sunday night,
get rid of the junk, and deal with any little things
that you could deal with so you don't
have to think about them Monday morning is super beneficial.
You want your Monday morning to feel smooth and calm
and, most importantly, clear so that you
can focus on the things that really demand
your higher-level attention.
You're not doing the Sunday night email
check for your boss.
You're doing it for yourself so that you can get
those things out of the way.
And maybe you prefer not to.
This just happens to be my Sunday routine.
And like I said, yours is probably
going to look different.
I can assure you that creating a Sunday routine that's
tailored to your life will make your whole week feel smoother
and your Monday mornings feel way less full of dread.
Learning to take care of yourself like a parent
would care for a child is so important because it's not only
about planning ahead.
It's also about eliminating the feeling of constantly having
to think about the little details or the little tasks
that you're likely to forget.
Get a solid Sunday routine in place
so that Mondays can feel awesome instead of scary.
And one super productive and valuable thing
that you might want to start doing this Sunday is investing.
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even with just $1.00, is Wealthsimple.
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Check them out at wealthsimple.com/tfd.
Or use the link in our description.
And remember, you can get started with literally $1.00--
no excuses.
So as always, guys, thank you so much for watching.
And don't forget to hit the Subscribe button
and to come back every Tuesday and Thursday
for new and awesome videos.
Bye.