Creating a Weekly Routine That Works
(for the next 12-ish weeks)
Our lives are going to change just 12 weeks when we welcome baby #3, so I’ve felt the desire to put some boundaries in place around how my weeks are structured. Right now, our days are fairly routine. We do a lot of the same thing every single day, but I’ve found that I need a little more structure within the week to keep everything running smoothly.
Why a Weekly Structure Matters
Right now, we tend to push tasks like laundry to the weekend, but is that the best idea? Idk. Sometimes it all gets washed and put away. Other weekends? It just gets washed.
My hope is that if we can map out the next 12 weeks and set some realistic guidelines for getting things done, we’ll be able to:
Enjoy these last few months as a family of four
Have time to prepare for the new baby
Avoid feeling overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done
Getting Started: Understanding My Time
To untangle this mess in my head, I sat down and looked at my calendar and current routines. Since I work from home, I have a lot of flexibility. Which is great, except that sometimes it can feel like too much.
Instead of spending intentional time working or taking care of things at home when I have the time, I still let it pile up (thanks ADHD!). It’s common for me to sit down at my laptop at 9am, work until 4pm and feel like nothing actually got done because I spent the whole time reacting to emails, Teams messages, and whatever popped up instead of focusing in priorities.
The same goes for chores. By the weekend, everything has piled up, but that’s when we want to relax and be with the kids. Not spend all our time cleaning. I know that tackling small chores during the week when I have uninterrupted time is the better approach but putting it into action felt daunting.
My New Weekly Routine
To create this structure, I used my Apple Calendar. It has my Outlook calendar for work and my personal Google calendar synced up to it so everything is in one place.
Key Decisions:
Work Hours: I initially aimed for 6-hour workdays, but I quickly realized that’s already what I’m doing… just not efficiently. So, I’m scaling back that time and being more intentional about how I work.
Chore Breakdown: Instead of waiting until the weekend, I assigned one manageable task per weekday.
Here’s how it all shakes out for a normal week where there is nothing else on my calendar:
Why This Matters
I know this might seem like a no-brainer to most people. Just do what needs to be done, right? I really wish my brain worked that way.
I’ve learned that when I lean into motivation, I can build long-term habits. By setting these small, structured steps, I’m hoping to create a system that works for me before our family dynamic shifts again.
Moving Forward
Over the next few weeks, I’ll test this new routine and make adjustments as needed. I’m already one week in and have had some a-ha moments.
For example, one decision that is really nice to have made is that Tuesday is for errands. No more trying to figure out when I can make those returns because just “getting it done” wasn’t working.
The goal isn’t to be perfect. It’s to set up a system that allows me to stay on top of things without feeling overwhelmed.
If you’ve setup a weekly structure that works for you, I’d love to hear about it! Drop a comment and let’s swap ideas!
ACTIVITIES: Spring is here! It’s been near the 70s all week and has been so nice. Even the meteorologists agree that winter is over. Admittedly, I hate the hot weather. How anyone can live in Texas and say they prefer summer to winter is beyond me. I’m missing the colder temps but 60-70 is a sweet spot that I will happy accept.
With the warmer temperatures, we’ve been getting outside more in the evenings after school and before dinner. Having two kids over the age of 2 is like a whole new world in terms of their physical capabilities. Last year, we had such a fun time exploring the different parks near our house and I can’t wait to get back to those on the weekends!
LITERATURE/LISTENING: I finished The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord, and it was just okay. I thought it was a cute story, and it was comforting, but things moved too quickly. Like there was almost no conflict and like halfway through the book, the male main character suddenly confessed his love for the female main character out of nowhere. It was just too… neat.
My hold for Heir of Fire finally came back so I started it, but I’m not really feeling it right now. I’m not even sure if I’ll finish the Throne of Glass series. So I put a pause on that, and am now reading Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. I’m not far into it yet, but I’m really liking it so far!
INSPIRATION: I’ve been inspired to do more meal prep for the week and last week I did chocolate chip muffins, my sourdough bread, and a pasta salad for myself for lunches.
I tend to overcomplicate the idea of pasta salad, but this week I found a dressing I wanted to make and then added in vegetables I know I like. And it was delicious! And unfortunately gone by Wednesday.
I didn’t go off of a recipe, just whatever I wanted it to have in it so I’m feeling inspired to try some other variations based on my own preferences and see how it works out!
GOALS: My kids are spending the night at their grandparents’ house this weekend and then spending part of the day with them, so I’m hoping to use that time to rest but also I want to tackle one project - this dreaded cabinet in our kitchen. It’s the largest cabinet and is where we keep our storage containers, cast-iron skillets, and whatever else doesn’t have a dedicated space.
And it’s a disaster. Ideally, we’ll just go through it and declutter and reorganize so it’s not even a large project necessarily. Just something that needs to be done.
NEW ADDITIONS: I didn’t buy anything new this week. I didn’t intentionally seek out to do a no-buy week or anything like that but it is a common occurance around here!