I know Sundays are supposed to be the day of rest, but I find if I spend a bit of time getting a few things organised in advance, it really helps me during the week.

Personally I hate feeling stressed on a Monday, so anything I can do to help get ahead and avoid that stress is a bonus.

Here are some things that I do that you might find useful for organising your week in advance.

I check my phone, online and desk calendar, both work and personal diaries, to make sure I know what I have on for Monday, but also for the rest of the week. Things like dental appointments, after school activity pick ups, and work meetings so I have a good reminder of what’s happening this week.

I also ask my kids what they have on this week, so we can work out any logistics for out of the usual events or appointments.

Next I write down the key things again on a “this week must-do” list (or if you have a planner, of course you can use this) so that I don’t have to keep them in my head too. This isn’t the same as the stuff I’d like to get around to, but instead the “absolutely must-do” things.

There’s nothing worse than lying in bed on Sunday night thinking about all these things, so I like to get them down on paper and out of my head! Then I can cross them off as I go.

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If you don’t have set times or a specific routine for gym or classes, then now is also a good time to schedule your own exercise time. Otherwise I find I put it on the long finger and never get round to it, so add in exercise times to your week now.

Mine consist of walking the dog, going for a walk with my friend, and doing my online Pilates class, and I put them all onto this week’s must-do list as well.

If you have clean laundry piled up or have finished any ironing, get the kids to help you put it all away.

I also look and sort any dirty clothes to get them in the machine ready to run on Sunday evening so that I can then either hang them out or put them in the dryer first thing in the morning.

While everyone is putting away laundry, now is also a good time to make sure everyone has their school or work clothes, shoes and bags organised for the morning. It’s another way to make the week go more smoothly and avoid any Monday morning missing item drama!

If you didn’t already check school bags and take out lunchboxes on Friday, now is the time to do this and see if there are any notes from school you need to read and follow up on.

Some people prefer to make lunches each morning, but I always make mine up the night before and put them in the fridge. It saves doing another job on a busy week day morning.

If you want to save some time on a busy Monday (and other days) then last thing at night set out the bowls, spoons, cereal box, tea bags/coffee, so that you only have to grab the milk, boil the kettle and throw on some berries onto the cereal in the morning.

You can also meal plan for your breakfasts (and lunches) as well as organise any baking you might want to do for breakfast or lunches e.g. granola or flapjacks while you have time on Sunday.

Speaking of planning meals, depending on when you do your grocery shop, this is another thing you can do on the Sunday, make your dinner plan for the week and organise your shopping list.

If there are any make-ahead meals for the week, you can do some prep or cook to put in the freezer for later in the week.

Hydration is so important, and chilling your water bottle overnight if you don’t have a chilled water feed on your fridge makes your water ready to go in the morning.

Get your child to help do fill ups and pop them in to chill. Then in the morning you can just grab it out of the fridge and start your sips.

End your Sunday by having a clear up of your living space so it is as decluttered as you can make it. Put away the toys, tidy away books and papers, straighten up the cushions, match up the pairs of shoes in the hall.

Trust me, this will make life so much easier on Monday morning and set you up nicely for the week too.

After all that organising and prepping, finish off your day with a few minutes of mindfulness. This doesn’t necessarily mean meditating if you are not into that, here are some suggestions:

• listen to an app like Headspace or Calm
• enjoy 10 minutes of your book
• listen to a podcast
• do some stretching or yoga
• step into the garden for a few minutes, breathe fresh air, smell the evening smells, and look at the stars

Whatever works for you just to ground and calm yourself to ready yourself for your busy week.