Every Saturday I clear off my desk. I put my pens and markers back in their holder. I go through all of the stacks of papers and books that I’ve accumulated. I charge my headphones and put them back in their place. I wipe everything down.

Every Sunday I sit down and I think about the week ahead. I make sure I know all of the meetings that are coming up. I think about what I need to prepare for those. I write out my list of tasks. I also take a bit of time to reflect on the week prior: what went well, what didn’t go so well. I write out all of the good things that happened and put them in my good things jug. 

I also go into my digital task tracker and I unassign dates for all of the tasks I didn’t finish. (And yes, sometimes tasks do get carried over to a new week BUT I put them on a new list and give them a new date.)

I do this every week because it helps me to release the week behind and move clearly into the week ahead.

Sometimes, like this past week, I didn’t really get as much done as I wanted to. I spent time on the wrong things. I didn’t spend enough time writing. And it would be easy to carry that into the next week. To carry over all of the tasks I didn’t get done on the same lists. To beat myself up for how I spent my time. And I’m pretty sure if I did that this next week would start off with me feeling overwhelmed and down on myself and lead to another week that doesn’t feel good.

Starting the week with a clean desk. With a fresh to do list. With gratitude. All of that helps me to approach the week ahead with calm and with excitement. 

You don’t need to do what I do, but I encourage you to find some kind of ritual that allows you not only to re-set, but also to face the week ahead with intention. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but a moment to reflect and then to decide what you’re bringing in to the week ahead will help you to spend your days with more intention. 

Do you have an end of week ritual? I’d love to hear about it!