Sundays remind me of eating bittersweet chocolate; it is not nearly as sweet or enjoyable as milk chocolate, it is still chocolate after all. Well, even though Sundays are still part of the weekend, they are just not as great as Saturdays. For me and many other students I know, our Sundays are spent cooped up inside our rooms trying to catch up on homework that should have taken all weekend to complete. Although this creates some stress, I still enjoy this routine because it means I do not have to worry about anything but relaxing on Friday night and Saturday. For anyone like me, here are some tips on how to make Sundays less stressful, but still productive.

 

Most articles on productivity will say that making a to-do list is the most effective way to be constructive, and in my experience, this is true. Friday night, make a list of all the assignments that need to be completed by Monday. On Sunday, most of the items may be unchecked, but take the leftover assignments and organize them by priority. Once this is done, take just one hour to power through as many tasks as possible. After the sixty minutes are up, find a way to relax to recharge for another hour of working. I find on Sundays when all I want to do is binge watch “The Good Place” on Netflix, I work better knowing that a few episodes are my reward for an hour of labor. Here at Behrend, we have resources that were created just for Sunday night homework. For example, the library and Learning Resource Center are open. From 6 to 8 pm, there are drop in hours set aside for writing assignments, which are perfect for papers due on Monday morning.

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Completing homework and assignments are important to stay productive, but Sundays are great for catching up in other areas, too. For example, I always tell myself that I am going to wake up early on Saturdays to keep my workout routine rolling from the week. However, Saturday morning comes and goes and I am still in bed. Because of this, I like to use Sundays as a day to introduce a new workout. Weekdays are great for routine, but Sundays just feel like a better time to mix it up and try something fun.

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I am not a person who is against lazy Sundays—in fact, I live for them. However, since I also love lazy Fridays and lazy Saturdays, I have found these tips make Sundays just slightly less lazy and ease me into another week of routine and productivity.