I have joined a 30-day Productivity Challenge and wanted to share my journey with you and invite you to join me. Click here – https://30dayproductivity.com – if you want to join me. I think that this could be a lot of fun, especially completing it as a community.

Today’s productivity challenge is to design our ideal week. This is something that I have already done and discussed as part of setting up Notion and discussed in earlier posts. However, I thought I would provide the schedule here again, and provide some additional details.

5:30 am | Alarm and morning devotions.

I spend 15-20 minutes thinking about my day, praying the rosary, or reading Scripture. I also make myself a cup of coffee.

6:00 am | Common area quick clean.

When I get ready for bed each night, I pick up all the common areas of the home, including the kitchen, dining room, and living room in an effort to set up the day for the future me. This time usually means setting up the robotic vacuums to work on cleaning the floors; one gets set on the carpeted area and the other the tile floor. I also make sure that my two girls get up and start getting ready for their day.

6:30 am | Personal morning routine.

My personal morning routine consists of making the bed, cleaning up the master bedroom, taking a shower, and wiping down the bathroom surfaces. I also get dressed, do my hair, and my make-up. I usually wear my hair up most days, and have managed to figure out several ways to do this in about 10 minutes. I also pack my youngest daughter’s lunch and fill her water bottle for the day. Wake up my son for the day; he prefers to get up as late as possible since he attends school full-time and works part-time.

7:00 am | School commute.

Our youngest daughter attends a private Catholic school located 30 minutes away from our home, so each morning we try to leave between 7:00 and 7:15 so that she can arrive to school a little early. On the commute, we listen to podcasts or books on Audible.

8:00 am | Zone cleaning.

I have divided our home into five zones, with a zone assigned Monday through Friday. There are also other tasks that I complete depending on the day of the month. Here are my cleaning zones:

Monday – Zone 1: Master Bedroom, Master Bathroom, and restocking the upstairs pantry. Complete the weekly meal plan. Do Master Laundry, and Bedding on the first Monday of the month.

Tuesday – Zone 2: Butler’s Pantry, Laundry Room, Back Entrance, and Kitchen. Youngest daughter’s laundry.

Wednesday – Zone 3: Living Room, Dining Room, and Home Office/Music Room.

Thursday – Zone 4: Upstairs, Hallway, Second Bathroom, and Upstairs Laundry.

Friday – Zone 5: Basement, Workout Room, Sewing Room, Den, Bathroom, and Basement Laundry.

8:30 am | Professional Work.

I am fortunate that I get to work professionally from home. While working, I use the Pomodoro technique, which I will explain at some point in the future. Using this technique allows me to focus on work and then, during set breaks, work on household tasks, like switching laundry load, folding clothes, running the Dyson vacuum, or mopping floors. I also work on various tasks that are tied to my goals.

1:00 pm | Lunch break.

I also will use this time to run errands in town, get the mail, or some quick groceries I might need for dinner that night.

1:30 pm | Professional Work.

During Pomodoro breaks, I will finish up any zone cleaning that needs to get done, put away laundry, or start prepping things for dinner. I also work on various tasks that are tied to my goals.

Depending on the day of the week and my daughter’s schedule, either my husband or I pick her up. Sometimes she gets picked up right after school, right after tutoring, or once cheerleading practice is done. I keep working around her schedule and then, once home, continue working until 5:00 or 6:00, ensuring I put in at least eight hours each day.

6:00 pm | Dinner preparation.

Usually dinner is set up to cook in the crock pot, roaster oven, or main baking oven, depending on the meal. As I cook, I clean up the kitchen and load the dishwasher. In between cooking tasks, I will work on school assignments, research for dissertation, or working on my various writing projects. I can also usually squeeze in some quick scales and chords on the piano.

7:00 pm | Dinner time.

We eat as a family every night, with the exception of my oldest son, who works second shift.

7:30 pm | Dirty 30.

We spend about 30 minutes cleaning up after dinner, putting away leftovers for lunch the next day, loading and starting the dishwasher, and setting up the coffee to automatically start in the morning. And running the cordless vacuum. Basically, we reset the entire house so that we wake up to a clean home each morning.

Yes, I try to vacuum the floors three times each day; automatically, with the corded Dyson, and with the cordless stick. We have two dogs and a child that is allergic to just about everything environmental. In addition to vacuuming, each month I shampoo and clean the carpets as well as clean the furniture and mattresses.

8:00 pm | Personal evening routine.

Again, I will work on school assignments, research for dissertation, or working on my various writing projects. I will also practice the piano and sometimes read a book. I also work on various tasks that are tied to my goals.

9:00 pm | Bedtime routine.

Sometimes I will take a bath and read a book; other nights I just wash my face, undo my hair and brush it out, and put on some pajamas. I also take my prescriptions each night. Once I am ready for bed, I like to read a book, watch some television, or meditate about my day. Our youngest daughter also gets tucked into bed around this time.

9:30 pm | Nighttime walk-through.

Double check that everything is done and in its place, making sure that I did not forget to hit start on the dishwasher or the coffee maker.

10:00 pm | Good night.

In each of these time blocks, I have a set of routines, or, as James Clear refers to them in his book Atomic Habits, stacked habits. I am a huge proponent of stacking habits into routines. Many of these routines I have done for nearly 30 years – so long that I move through them each day without even really thinking about them. This is why each night I double check because with everything being automatic I cannot remember if I did or did not push a button! There have been a few mornings where we have woken up to a set up coffee machine, but no coffee. Or a ready-to-go dishwasher that did not get run.

By working on a zone of the home each Monday through Friday, our whole house generally stays clean enough for company. My husband and our children are all able to come home to a clean and cozy home.

I do not have as tight of a schedule for Saturday and Sunday. These are our family days and include projects, church, and family time. Depending on what we are doing and when we wake up, I will do the Dirty 30 quick cleans throughout the day as needed, catch up on any laundry, and take care of the bigger shopping trips with my husband. Anything done on the weekend is completed so that we all start out Monday prepared for the next week.

I hope that seeing my schedule, including my zone cleaning, is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or would like additional information. I would love to hear from you.