Wouldn’t it be exciting to accomplish all your task each day for the rest of the week and look forward to a more relaxed weekend again? But this isn’t always the case, is it?

It is funny how you arrive at work on Monday morning hoping to finish a report that is due by 12 noon, but you spend the next 3 hours sorting out other things that suddenly came crashing on your table.

You only wanted to spend 30 minutes on those extras to allow you room to focus on that report, but there you are trying to fit in your most important task for the day into a spare time.

How you plan your workweek, has a great deal of effect on whether your week will be productive. The truth is, there is no guarantee that you will be able to follow through on your schedule a hundred percent, because change is constant even in a perfectly planned out week.

But a certain level of preparedness on your path will ensure that you are not overwhelmed and it will help you maintain your productivity despite the surprises that may come. We have put together five simple steps that will help you prepare for a more productive week.

Start Early

In a busy city like Lagos, a lot of people commute from Lagos mainland to the Island every day because the Island is home to numerous companies, businesses as well as leisure and relaxation centres.

To get to your office by 8 am or 9 am on the Island from the mainland, would mean you have to leave your house latest around 5 am. This should give you a pretty clear picture of what it means to start early.

Though very inconvenient, it feels good to know that you will beat the everyday traffic and get to your destination on time because you started your journey early enough.

Same goes for planning your workweek. You must use the weekend to your advantage and wake up on Monday morning knowing exactly how your week will turn out.

Planning during the weekend gives you room to see and prepare for the things that are likely to be a distraction to you in the coming week.

Review Your Performance

You do not have to wait for a scheduled staff appraisal before your performance can be reviewed. It is important for you to take the timeout before the start of the week to review your performance in the previous week.

Critique even your best results and think of better ways to improve on them in the coming week. You would be amazed at the loopholes you would find in your performance and you will be better positioned with more time to fill them up.

Plan Your Outfit for The Week

Your appearance has the power to boost your confidence and improve your performance at work, which is why you need more time planning your outfit for the entire week.

We think it is a bad idea to decide what to wear on a Monday morning or any other morning. It puts you under unnecessary pressure, especially if your clothes are dirty or rumpled.

You will even be disappointed at yourself for being shabbily dressed and less motivated when you show up late at work because you could not decide early enough on the best outfit to put on.

Make A To-Do-List

We would advise that you have your to-do-list ready by Sunday night. This will give you ample time to prepare mentally for what is ahead. Writing your to-do-list helps you remember what is important and what is not.

Some people prefer to take mental notes, but it is better to write it down so as not to forget. It helps you to see at a glance the tasks that are of high priority, especially those with urgent deadlines.

Doing this before the week starts will give you enough time to determine how long it will take to complete each task. With this, you can assign realistic deadlines.

Go To Bed Early

Going to bed early guarantees you waking up early, it reduces the stress level and removes the need to hurriedly meet up with resumption time. It gives you enough time to rest and wake up feeling refresh to take on the days task.

It is a very good quality to be able to multitask, however trying to complete more than one task at the same time can be counter-productive. A divided attention slows you down and often leads to unnecessary errors.

You need to understand when you are more productive and focus more energy on completing very important tasks during that time.