Weekly Reset Routine

When life feels chaotic, one of the best remedies is a reset. A weekly reset routine is an anchor that keeps my life balanced between working hard and playing hard. 

I’ve always been a planner and consider myself an expert in the field of organization and discipline. I attribute my expertise to intentional planning – a weekly reset being at the center of my planning routine. It truly helps me cleanse my brain of the week behind me and prepares me for the week ahead.

“Resetting” and “getting your life together,” go hand in hand and have become very trendy over the past few years. But I’m here to tell you that resetting doesn’t have be aesthetic to work. It’s completely what you make it and the whole purpose is to lower your stress levels, not increase them.

What is a weekly reset routine?

A weekly reset routine is essentially a weekly audit of your life. It’s a quick look back and a quick look ahead at your habits, routines, goals, and your space. But this audit goes beyond writing and assessing – it involves action.

This is a routine that you implement once a week to “reset” your life. It’s cleaning up the old and preparing for the new, but on a somewhat small scale. Think about how much easier your life is on days when you have clean clothing laid out from the night before, a meal prepped, and all of your keys, shoes, water bottles, etc. are in the correct place and easy to grab quickly.

A weekly reset routine shows care for your future self!

I think that a Sunday reset is most common, but you can do your reset any day of the week. Weekends are popular due to time constraints on weekdays but a weekday reset can really work in your favor if you can find the time and energy. Think about all you can get done before and after work – then your weekend is pretty much completely free for fun or relaxing!

That being said, even if you decide to reset on a day off, it doesn’t have to take up the entire day. I often complete mine in the morning or I (gasp) split my reset over 2 days. I am typically most motivated in the morning, so either on Saturday or Sunday, I’ll set to work on as much of a reset as I can.

Your reset can be detailed and extensive or relatively simple – tailor it to fit your lifestyle or the specific season of life you’re in.

Why have a weekly reset routine?

A weekly reset is a great way to stay organized in your home and in your life. It’s how you stop the “build up,” of chores and create habits. It’s like taking care of your future self.

It’s like we’re told as children to eat our vegetables, go to bed early, and to do our best in school – all things that seem annoying and difficult in the moment but are really meant to be good for us. Doing something slightly hard or annoying in the moment will save you from something super annoying further down the line. It’s hard to eat healthy but it’s harder to be unhealthy. It’s hard to vacuum your floors once a week but it’s harder to deep clean the floors and still be finding dust.

Taking small action each week to reset your home and life keeps things from getting messy. Literally and figuratively.

Disclaimers: A weekly reset routine isn’t ONLY for type A people who have their lives 1000% together. It also doesn’t have to take all day and it definitely doesn’t have to take all of your energy. Below, I recommend selected bits and pieces to build a routine that works in your own life 🙂

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The Weekly Reset Routine:

A weekly reset will look different for everyone. I’ve crafted a routine that is flexible but guided. The flexibility of having general pillars will help you to avoid burnout. What’s special about it is you can complete your reset without feeling overwhelmed and without having a 30 step checklist to finish.

My weekly reset routine consists of 3 MAIN PILLARS:

1. Organization.
2. Preparation.
3. Self Care.

Depending on the week, the level of depth for each pillar will change. In this guided routine, I’ve put extensive steps for each pillar, but know that you can pick and choose how in depth you’d like to “reset” for each pillar.

Pillar 1 – Organization:

Think of the organization pillar like an audit of your past week. This involves any “cleaning up” that needs completing from the week such as looking through the fridge for expired food or completing any dirty laundry. 

• 1 load of laundry: just one load.
  • If you’re up for it, completely clear out your laundry bin, but I think 1 load minimum is needed at least once a week! Even if that load is your bedding.
• Put away all clothing.
  • Yes, this includes the laundry! Check your bedroom floor and other surfaces for clothing that may not have made it’s way back to where it belongs throughout the week.
• Quick sweep or vacuum of all floors.
  • A quick vacuum will save you from having dusty socks or feet! Mopping or deep scrubbing is great, but not necessary weekly (unless you want).
• Unpack purse or work bag.
  • Time to empty out your bag from the week! Clear out any garbage in there or extra hair ties that otherwise get lost until the end of time.
• Review finances from the week.
  • So I actually do this step every Monday, separately from my other steps, since I tend to do some spending on the weekend. But it’s really smart to check your finances once a week just to make sure there are no mysterious charges and that you don’t miss any upcoming payments.
• Check refrigerator for any expired or old food.
  • It doesn’t take too long – just do a quick scan of your refrigerator and even the pantry for anything that may be expired or starting to smell.
• Wash sheets.
  • This is not only a way to keep clean, it’s also an act of self love. Can we agree there are fewer better feelings than getting into a bed that has fresh sheets?
• Clean out your car.
  • Along with your weekly bag, your car probably accumulates a little bit of stuff over the week. Give it a quick once over. Even if it’s just an empty water bottle or some hair ties that have been building up, it will make a huge difference in the long run if you take care of this weekly rather than, say, yearly.
• Check your texts and inbox.
  • Organize your phone life! Clear out and delete any emails that you don’t need and do your best to answer any unanswered text messages.

As you can see, some of these are tiny habits that you might take care of every day rather than every week. BUT if you’re newer to getting organized, or you’re super busy during the week, taking care of these once a week during your reset will truly start to make your life easier.

Pillar 2 – Preparation:

Preparation includes anything that will make your life easier during the week ahead. These are things like creating ‘to-do’ lists or writing out appointments in your planner. It might also include grocery shopping or meal prepping for the week.

• Grocery shop.
  • I am actually a big lover of grocery shopping. It’s a major part of my preparation for the week since I really like meal prepping and eating healthy throughout the week.
  • Make a list of everything you’ll need before you go. You can even take it a step further and list out your meals for the week so that you can work backwards to make your list. The point is, you need a list!
• Chop and store all veggies.
  • I don’t always do this, but when I do, it saves SO much time in the week. With my veggies prewashed and pre-chopped, cooking is so easy.
• Meal prep.
  • Chopping veggies brings me to the next bullet point – meal prepping. Meal prepping is doing something kind for your future self. It’s one less thing
• Write out any appointments or “to-dos” for the week.
  • If you have a planner, use it! Clear your head of all of your to do lists and put it on paper. I find this is so helpful for my mental capacity – writing down any tasks or plans frees up my headspace for other things.
  • I list out any ‘to-dos’ like paying bills or sending birthday cards, etc. I also like to list out any appointments or social outings so I can get a snapshot of what my week looks like.

Preparing for your week will drastically ease any anxiety or stress around the start of a new week. It can also help you prioritize things that are super important to you.

Again (I know I’m like a broken record), you do not have to do everything on the list. Pick from the list and build what works for you.

Pillar 3 – Self Care:

I typically keep very balanced habits throughout the week as far as hours of sleep and types of meals BUT, Friday and Saturday night sometimes call for a little bit of indulgence. 

AND, throughout the week, sometimes a facemask isn’t possible or you don’t get to do your 10 minutes of meditation on Saturday morning because HELLO brunch was calling your name. 

Enter pillar 3: Self Care. Your body and mind deserve a reset too.

• Go to sleep at a reasonable hour.
  • After a week of work or school and maybe a weekend of late nights, choose 1 night a week to go to sleep a little earlier.
  • It could be the night before your reset day or the night of your reset day after everything is done. Either way, this is a great way to reset your body and mind because you deserve it!
• Write in a gratitude journal.
  • I highly recommend a gratitude journal as a part of your reset. It’s a shout out to your life and makes your brain feel great. I love the 5 minute journal.
  • Though you may have a daily journal, doing it just once a week will do wonders for your mental health. You may love it so much that it becomes part of your daily routine!
• Put on a face mask.
  • Time to show your skin some love and here comes the aesthetic part. Put on one of your favorite face masks whether it be a sheet mask or a clay mask and just sit.
  • Try to sit with the mask on for at least 10 minutes with no phone, no TV, and no distractions. Allow your mind to wander or to relax.
• Take an everything shower.
  • And last but not least, the everything shower. Double shampoo, conditioner, shaving, body wash, body scrub, all the things!

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Final thoughts (and tips) on having a reset routine:

Add or subtract reset steps to fit your own life. When you start, I’d recommend blocking out about 1 hour and choosing 1 item to organize, 1 item to prepare, and 1 way to show yourself care.

Stick to it for 2 or 3 weeks and build gradually as you see fit. In short, a reset routine is a collection of weekly habits that should serve to make life better and easier.

Have a beautiful week and I hope you found value in this post <3