Sunday Mental Preparations

This Sunday, as most Sundays before I start a workweek, I turn inward. My nature is to live in the moment. I have a tendency to lose track of time. This tendency has caused me to feel fully present when I’m with people and not stress about what could happen in the future, but has also bitten me in the ass. Since I’m not predisposed to worry about what can happen next, I deal with avoidable problems.

As a result, I’ve gotten in the habit of getting myself mentally prepared for the week on Sundays. I preview my calendar and take stock of what my priorities are for the week. I take note of what I’m doing after work and tell my wife so we can make dinner plans and anticipate when we will see each other. I look at the weather and formality of the week’s plans to determine what kind of clothes I need to have ready.

I notice whether it’s a week with a lot of meetings or phone calls and prepare myself to have the energy I need to be “on” for an extended period of time. If I’m doing more solo work, I prepare myself for long stretches of time without socializing.

I take a look at what I’m doing the following weekend and if I don’t have plans, anticipate how I should fill the time.

I imagine what a great week would look like. What a tough week would look like. Considering what happened the previous week, I anticipate how the people around me will be feeling.

I try to guess what kind of unexpected things can happen.

I plan the necessities of life. Am I due for a haircut? When will I get groceries? Do laundry?

I plan how early I have to get up to exercise. Counting back 6-8 hours, I plan how early I have to get to bed.

This planning happens in an informal way throughout the day. The decisions I make on Sundays are largely dictated by how I feel about the upcoming week. If I won’t have a lot of personal time after work, I may spend more time lounging. If I’ll be inside all week, I’ll try to get out.

Externally, this mental defragmentation make me look sullen and withdrawn. It impacts my relationships since people, especially those I’m most frequently around who are used to my generally jovial attitude, wonder whether something is wrong.

I explain that nothing is wrong. I’m just doing my Sunday mental preparations.