The ultimate Sunday reset routine for busy mums

Chopping boards, plant, clock, coffee, cup - items needed for a Sunday reset routine.

Sundays are the perfect opportunity to set yourself up for a calmer, more organised week, and this is where a Sunday reset routine comes in.

By dedicating time each week to planning, tidying, and preparing, you can start the week feeling in control, rather than overwhelmed.

A Sunday reset routine isn’t about perfection, or spending hours cleaning and planning – it’s about creating small, manageable habits that make a real difference to your week.

Whether you’re a busy mum juggling work, school runs, and family life, or simply someone who wants to start the week with less stress, implementing a weekly reset routine can transform the way you approach your week.

This article contains practical steps you can take to reset your week, so you feel more organised, calm, and ready to tackle whatever comes your way.

Table of Contents

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What is a Sunday reset?

A Sunday reset is a simple weekly routine that you do on Sunday (or any day that works for you), so you can start the week with more calm, less chaos, and a clear plan.

Here are some things that you can add to your reset routine.

Plan the week ahead

Start your weekly reset by reviewing the following week in your family calendar, or whatever calendar you use.

The sorts of things you may have in your calendar that you need to review include:

School events
After school clubs or sports
Appointments
Special dates
Family commitments
Work deadlines

For the week ahead, is there anything you need to add to your calendar that you’ve forgotten about, or anything you need to take off because you’ve overscheduled your time?

Do you need to block out time to prepare for certain entries, for example, do you need to schedule time to fill in paperwork for an upcoming appointment, do you need to go shopping for a costume for a school event?

Looking at your upcoming week and making sure you’re prepared for what’s coming up, will allow you to get through your week without any last minute stress.

Write a meal plan

Writing a meal plan is a reset routine activity that I do every week, as it saves a lot of time by not having to think about what to cook each night.

Here are some things you can do to make family meal planning easy:

Create a list of favourite meals, and meals that take 30 minutes or less to prepare
Rotate these meals each week
Write a weekly grocery list of what you need for your week’s meal plan
Pre chop vegetables, and cook what you can in advance

Reset high traffic areas

You don’t have to spend a lot of time tidying your home, simply focusing on resetting high traffic areas is enough to make your home feel less cluttered, and calmer.

Here are high traffic reset activities you can do each week that make a huge impact to how you feel in your home.

Clear kitchen counters
Clean dirty dishes and put them away
Clear clutter and toys from the living room
Tidy your entry way
Put anything that doesn’t belong in the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms in a basket, and return them where they belong

Do a laundry reset

Here are some laundry hacks that you can do as part of a weekly laundry reset, that will have your laundry under control in no time.

Do one load of laundry for daily essentials like socks, underwear, and uniforms
Use a collapsible laundry basket to gather scattered laundry from rooms, and place it in a central location until the contents are ready to wash

Get ready for school

A great way to prepare for the school week is to take 5 – 10 minutes each Sunday to do the following:

Get PE kits ready
Wash water bottles and store them on kitchen counters to refill in the morning
Make school lunches and store them in the fridge
Make sure homework is done and packed in school bags
Place school bags by the door

Cupboard with cereal, towels - items needed for a Sunday reset routine.

Do a mental reset

Spending 5 – 10 minutes each week to reflect and refocus is an integral part of a Sunday reset routine, as it helps you to approach the week with a calmer, more focused mindset.

Here are some things you can do to reflect and focus.

Write 3 things you were grateful for in a gratitude journal
List 1 thing you won’t do next week, and 1 thing you will
Schedule 20 minutes in the week ahead for a self-care activity you enjoy

How to make a reset routine a habit

Here’s what you can do to make your weekly reset a habit:

Do it at the same time every Sunday
Create a routine checklist, and check the activities off as you do them
Don’t strive for perfection, sometimes done is better than perfect

The ultimate Sunday reset routine – a recap

Taking time each Sunday to plan your week and meals, reset high traffic areas in your home, get a head start on laundry, and get school essentials ready, sets you up for a calmer, more productive week.

Just as important as a physical reset is a mental reset, where you take a few moments each week to express gratitude, reflect, and make time for things you enjoy.

The best way to stick to your weekly reset is to make it a habit, which you can do by doing your reset at the same time each week, creating a checklist to follow, and not striving for perfection.

Which small Sunday habit makes the biggest difference to your week?

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