Tuesday To-Do: The Prep Work

Happy Tuesday! For those of you new to the blog (welcome!) Tuesday To-Do is a somewhat weekly column on the blog where I share an actionable productivity hack to get your week on track even if your Monday wasn’t productive.

We’ve talked in this column about writing out a full process for the projects your tackling, creating your best workflow and automating where you can.

These are all awesome ways to make yourself more productive and proactive, but none of them will be effective if you aren’t taking time to do the prep work.

Let me take you through how this unfolds in real life for me. Every Sunday (or very early Monday morning), I take 30 minutes or so just to prep my work tasks for the week. I compare my personal and work calendars, make sure everything lines up correctly in my calendar and map out a week plan.

Also on Sunday, I take a few minutes in the mornings to make a list of what I want to eat for the week. That way when I head to the grocery store, I know exactly what to buy and can come home and prep meals for the week.

When I miss these two essential prep steps, my entire week is thrown off. It usually means I’m having way too much take out and don’t get all my posts up for the week (Sunday is a big scheduling day for me, too).

If you constantly find yourself playing catch up to your own tasks, you would likely benefit from some prep time. You wouldn’t go into a big meeting to pitch a new project without preparing, and you should go into your day to day routines without it either.

Take some time to lay out the week, plan ahead, and account for little things we often overlook.

What big items on your list do you need to prep for? Do you have a post to write that you need to take and edit photos for? Or a call coming up that you should gather some notes on? Have you even been to the grocery store to make sure you can fuel your way through the week? All of these things are simple, but key, to a successful week.

How have you done the prep work this week?