10 Steps I Take to Begin Every Weekend

It's almost the end of the week, and I'm getting ready to shut down. Time to unplug from work and connect with family. Every week, I try to practice a routine (albeit, imperfectly) for ending my week well. Here's how I close out out a typical week (this t

It's almost the end of the week, and I'm getting ready to shut down. Time to unplug from work and connect with family. Every week, I try to practice a routine (albeit, imperfectly) for ending my week well.

Photo credit: Joe Lanman (Creative Commons)

Here's how I close out out a typical week (this takes about an hour, so I try to begin around 4:00pm) and begin the weekend:

1. Go thru my task management system (I'm currently using Wunderlist), finishing any tasks that are urgent or necessary to complete before the weekend and reassigning the rest for next week.

2. Process all my email and try to get my inbox to zero.

3. Schedule enough tweets to get me through the weekend (using Buffer).

4. Schedule next week's blog posts (I may go back and add a photo before these posts publish, but at least I have the content written and ready to go).

5. Look at my weekend schedule and next week's schedule just to get an idea of what's coming up.

6. Back up my computer. I try to do this daily, but often forget. Friday is a great day to plug into my external hard drive and make sure all my data is backed up.

7. Turn off my computer.

8. Turn off my phone.

9. Go for a walk (with my son or dog or both). This is a great way to separate mentally from the week, process some things, and dive into the weekend.

10. Start cooking dinner. I do a lot of the cooking in our family, and I love it. It's fun to do this on a Friday night, because I don't have to rush to finish it due to some commitment for the next day (sometimes, I work at night to get ahead for the next day).

What's your end of the week routine look like? Share in the comments.