Hard to believe it’s already Friday! While it’s tempting to declare weekend early, there’s one thing that must be done (ok, not ONE thing – there’s still all the regular work/kids/house/life stuff that doesn’t seem to have a pause button): The Weekend Game Plan.

All week, I find myself saying “We’ll get to it this weekend…” Before I know it, I’ve got 6 weeks’ worth of activities and projects planned for two days. Or I’m exhausted and overwhelmed from the week and by Saturday morning I don’t have the ambition to do much of anything. Either way, we end up on Sunday evening with no clean clothes for the week, no groceries, and feeling totally unrested and unprepared for the week to come.

Not good.

A few years ago, I started creating a Weekend Game Plan to make sure that the stuff that needed to get done got done, and we all had plenty of down time to recuperate. It starts out as a brain dump of everything I’d like to get done, along with any appointments or time-specific stuff I’ve committed to. From there, I divide a sheet of paper into six sections – one section for morning, afternoon, and evening for each day, and start filling things in from my brain dump.

Breaking it up this way helps me really visualize the time I have, and gives me a reality check when I’ve tried to shove six activities and two projects into a three-hour space of time.

So what’s on my Weekend Game Plan this week?

Friday:

• Budget, Menu, Weekend game plan. Errands
• Work
• Help get the guys ready to camp this weekend

Sat AM:

• Studio time. Going to try to finish this painting:

  

• Brunch

Sat PM:

• Unpack more boxes
• Build DD’s bed

Sat Eve:

• Work on website
• Relax, watch a movie or read

Sun AM:

• Studio time
• Guys home from camping
• Brunch?

Sun PM:

• More unpacking
• Plan next week

Just writing it out makes me feel a lot more relaxed and in control. The plan may change, but at least there IS a plan! So now you know what my Weekend Game Plan looks like – what’s on yours?