How to Fit Everything in a Week + My New Weekly Routine
Keep reading this post to learn:
⋒ What a weekly skeleton is and how it can help you avoid burnout
⋒ Step-by-step on how to create your own weekly skeleton
⋒ My new weekly routine and what my schedule looks like day-to-day
If you’ve been in the Hustle Sanely world for a while, you probably know that I am a big fan of having what I like to call a “weekly skeleton” — it’s basically a template for a typical week in your life. It makes sitting down to do your weekly prep meeting incredibly streamlined because you’re not having to start from scratch every week. You have the bones of your week laid out and you just have to plug in each week’s specific tasks and events.
It also helps you to see how much time you are giving to each area of your life: family, work, self-care, etc.
The fastest way to burn out is by starting every single week off with a long to-do list and then just chipping away at it every day and hoping you make it to the end by Friday.
This is what I used to do and it was terrible. I felt like I was constantly chasing tasks and racing against the clock. I was spread so thin and I always felt like I was going, going, going and never really present but always thinking about the next thing that needed to be done and how I was going to fit it in my schedule. When I decided to create a weekly skeleton, that’s when everything changed for me.
A weekly skeleton is a foundation for how your weeks are structured. It’s a blueprint for your weeks so that like I mentioned a second ago – you don’t have to start from scratch every single week when you sit down for your weekly prep meeting to plan the next week.
I follow a 6-step process to create my weekly skeleton and I’m gonna share the 6 steps with you today – now I’m gonna keep this short and sweet because I want to have enough time at the end to walk you through my current weekly skeleton and I have a $49 workshop available that dives into this 6-step process in detail. It’s called the How to Plan a Peacefully Productive Week Workshop and I’ll link it in the show notes for you if you want to get more support in this 6-step process!
6 Steps to Follow To Create a Weekly Skeleton:
Step 01: Make a list of your scheduled responsibilities in a typical week and plug those into your weekly skeleton.
These are things that have specific times attached to them like recurring meetings, classes, or your work hours.
Step 02: Make a list of your non-negotiable priorities and any supporting habits and plug those into your weekly skeleton.
Things like your morning routine, intentionally hanging out with your kids after work /school, or date night.
Step 03: Make a list of the tasks you need to do in a typical week.
This might require you to track your time/tasks for a week because it can be really difficult or overwhelming to sit down and try to recall every recurring task that needs to be done each day of the week.
Step 04: Brainstorm logical categories that your tasks can be grouped into and assign each task to a category.
I call this batch planning. And it goes along with the next step which is:
Step 05: Assign each day of the week a focus based on the categories you came up with.
You’ll get some examples when I share my weekly skeleton at the bottom of this blog post but weekly batching has been a GAME CHANGER for my productivity levels.
~ I am more efficient (aka I get things done faster and with better quality)
~ I’m WAY less stressed because I’m not worrying about when things are gonna get done because I have a plan of action for the week as a whole
I am BEGGING YOU to stop spinning in circles and constantly telling yourself, “After next week, life will be more chill and I’ll have time for [insert a priority you’re neglecting here].”
(Note: Life never chills unless you change something)
If you want:
✓ A copy of my exact weekly batch schedule
✓ To learn all the juicy details of my 6-step process for creating your very own weekly skeleton
✓ Access to a workbook with exercises to help you create your weekly skeleton
✓ Access to a 45-minute training video to walk you through the workbook exercises
Then you’re gonna want to get your booty in the $49 How to Create Your Peacefully Productive Workshop.
Moving on to the last step of creating your weekly skeleton:
Step 06: Using your batch planning schedule, put the tasks on your weekly skeleton, carving out space for margin and transitions.*
*I suggest leaving a 15-30-minute buffer window as you transition between tasks to prevent you from feeling frantic as you move through your day.
Collectively, we as the Hustle Sanely Squad really appreciate a concrete example SO I’m holding nothing back and I’m gonna tell you my exact weekly routine for this season of my life! I did do this in an episode last April but I wasn’t a mom and honestly I don’t even think I knew I was pregnant yet when I recorded that episode, so obviously my season is quite different. I was working a lot more back then so my weeks looked and felt different.
I have a lot more margin built into my week these days because having a newborn requires a lot of flexibility. I try not to jam-pack every day of the week because I understand that my capacity for doing a ton of stuff in this season is not high. My priorities in this season are taking care of my family, investing in my self-care, and running and growing my business so that’s what my weekly skeleton reflects right now.
Here is a peek into what my current weekly routine looks like:
First I’ll tell you what my daily routine is so I don’t have to repeat the things that I do every single day for each day of the week:
This is my daily schedule for Tuesday-Thursday (my work days)
6:15 AM: Morning routine
7:45 AM: Leave for gym
8:15 AM: Workout
10:00 AM: Tidy + get ready
11:00 AM: Start work
4:00 PM: End work
4:00-6:30: Family time
6:30-7:30 Everly’s bedtime routine
7:30: Dinner
8:00-10:00: Free time + Evening routine
10:00: Bed
So that is the same Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!
MONDAY:
Focus: Family Day
Recurring Tasks:
~ CEO Block (you’ll hear me say this a lot – it’s a 30-60 minute window where I do what needs to be done to keep my business running every day. It involves me checking in with the BFF FB group, answering emails, balancing Quickbooks, and checking in with my team via Voxer)
~ An intentional activity with the family – so Adam, Everly, and I do something intentional together like go on a lunch date, go walking by the river, or something.
Adam works most weekend nights so Mondays are kinda like our Saturdays.
Recurring Events:
~ 8:15: Workout class
TUESDAY:
Batch Focus: Product Development
Recurring Tasks:
~ CEO Block
~ Work hours are spent working on new products and services for Hustle Sanely
Recurring Events:
~ 8:00: Workout class
~ 11:00-4:00: Work hours
I have specific work hours in this season because my mom and Adam’s mom come over to watch Everly Tuesdays - Thursdays from 10-4ish so I can focus on work during those times. It works really well for us and I’m so grateful for their support! I’m able to focus on work when I’m working and spending time with Everly otherwise. It helps me be more present when I have specific hours for certain things.
WEDNESDAY:
Batch Focus: Calls + Coaching
Recurring Tasks:
~ CEO block
~ Prep for calls
Recurring Events:
~ 8:15: Workout class
~ 11:00-4:00: Work hours
~ 11:00-1:30: Call block (meetings, podcast interviews, 1:1 coaching calls)
~ 3:00-5:00 Coaching block
THURSDAY:
Batch Focus:
Content + Planning
Recurring Tasks:
~ CEO block
~ Check next week’s Hustle Sanely content
~ Plan next week’s Jess Massey IG content
~ Weekly Prep Meeting
Recurring Events:
~ 8:15: workout class
~ 11:00-4:00: work hours
FRIDAY:
Batch Focus: Life Admin/Open Loops
This is the day I try to schedule any appointments I have – so therapy, nails, lashes, etc. I also spend time closing any open loops from the week for work and I do that in the morning if necessary
Recurring Tasks:
~ CEO block
~ Home Reset Routine (I share all the details about what this is in podcast episode 166)
Recurring Events:
None
And then I leave Saturdays and Sundays open in this season. We usually spend slow mornings together as a family, get projects done around the house, and spend time with our friends and loved ones.
Now that you have all the juicy details of my updated weekly skeleton – say it with me: our schedules and routines are tools, not chains.
Not every week goes perfectly according to this plan – in fact, it usually doesn’t. But having this weekly routine as a guide really helps me to steward my time and energy in a way that honors my priorities and having this foundation in place makes pivoting easier because I can see everything at once and move stuff around accordingly.
I use my Peacefully Productive Planner® to plan out my weeks because the way the layout just helps my brain really visualize what is happening and keeps me from feeling overwhelmed or lost throughout the week. If something changes, I’m not afraid to scratch something out… I’m not one of those people who has a pretty paper planner. My paper planner is messy and functional!
We are currently sold out of 2023 Peacefully Productive Planners BUT I’d highly recommend signing up for the 2024 planner waitlist if you want to snag one for 2024! I know it feels kinda early to be signing up for a 2024 planner waitlist but we start selling them in September and they usually sell out before the end of the year so just go sign up now if you want one so you know for sure you’re on the list!
The weekly spread in the 2024 planners is super, super similar to the 2023 layout with just a few minor upgrades because honestly, it is just the perfect format for laying out a week that centers around your priorities and taking care of your mental health!
I want to note that chances are, your weekly skeleton is going to be vastly different from mine because we have different lives, roles, and priorities. That’s why I’m a big fan of creating frameworks – like the 6 steps to creating a weekly skeleton – because anyone can use them no matter what season they’re in.
There is no point in comparing your weekly skeleton with someone else’s. Just focus on designing a life that honors YOUR priorities and YOUR capacity.
And that is what I’ve got for you today – how to fit everything in a week plus a look into my current weekly routine as a working mama! I hope it was helpful for you!
Are you ready to create a peacefully productive schedule and routines for the year, quarter, month, week, and day to help you ditch overwhelm for good?
Loved this blog post? Tune into the full podcast episode below!
