It can be so hard to get everything done that needs to be completed in one week. When you’re working full time and trying to run your household, keep up with friends, see your family, and attend to any other important needs, things easily fall through the cracks. Staying productive is key when life is busy and you have a never-ending to-do list. One of the best ways to stay on track and boost your productivity is to implement theme days.
Theme days are exactly what they sound like. Days that you assign themes to. The themes could be anything you want, it just depends on what type of tasks you need to do or what you need to focus on!
For example, bloggers might have themes such as content creation, editing, research, etc. Again, the themes will differ based on what you personally need to get done!
If you don’t know what themes would be best for you, start with your to-do list. Write out all the tasks that need to be done. Don’t worry about keeping the list organized. Just write as much as you can think of (aka brain dumping).
Related read: How To Plan The Perfect Life Admin Day
Once you have your list, look for anything that could be grouped together. Maybe you have a lot of errands to run or you need to clean the entire house. Circle or star all the tasks that could go together.
Then look at the groups. What are the themes? Do you have errands? Or maybe if it’s work-related do you have report writing? Once you determine the tasks or groups that keep coming up, you have your themes!
The themes can then be plugged into certain days of the week. Monday could be for errands. Tuesday for household chores. Wednesday for phone calls. And so on!
Theme days can be a game changer for your productivity especially if you find yourself procrastinating or getting distracted a lot. I love using theme days when I find myself falling behind on tasks for the blog or my content. It helps me get back on track in a manageable way. Here are some other ways that theme days can help your overall productivity:
Focusing on similar tasks
Theme days are also great because it allows your brain to stay focused on similar tasks and ideas. Think of it as task batching in a way. You group together similar things to get done and your productivity soars because you actually have extended time to get in the groove! The less you have to switch your brain from one thing to another, the better.
Provides structure
If every week you know that Fridays are email days then you will be ready to go and know what to expect! Having structure is helpful for productivity because it takes away the extra time and brain power to think about what you need to do next.
No one enjoys uncertainty and when you have too much to do you can get stuck in “analysis paralysis” which can keep you stuck at the beginning for way too long. Knowing the theme of the day provides structure and consistency which our brains love.
Allows you to prioritize more
We all have things that are priorities but it can be hard to manage them all with busy schedules. Having theme days allows you to have more priorities in life.
If Monday’s theme is relationships then you know each Monday you can prioritize catching up with friends, having a date night with your partner, or sending that thank you card to your Aunt.
Then on Tuesdays, you might be focusing on chores so you can then prioritize cleaning the bathroom so you have a clean and tidy space.
Even if only one thing gets done each day, you still have room to complete a week’s worth of priority to-do’s in different parts of your life. To me, that’s a huge win and is a holistic way to live your life.
Related reads:
- 10 Tips For Having The Most Productive Life Admin Day
- How To Write A More Effective To-Do List
- How To Get Things Done When You’re Tired
So you might be thinking that this type of system will only really work for people who are self-employed because those of us who work for someone else doesn’t always have the choice about what each day brings.
That being said, this system can be for work or not! Maybe something else will work better for the type of place you work in. But, it might work for your side hustle or home life in general!
You might even find it helpful to have themes for your work AND home life. Whatever you find helpful is all that matters.
Here are some ways you can use theme days in your life:
Theme days for your home life
An example for using theme days at home might be:
Monday – laundry
Tuesday – tidy the whole house
Wednesday – family time
Thursday – pay bills/ deal with mail
Friday – garbage and recycling
Saturday – errands
Sunday – meal prep
Depending on what your household needs are, you could get quite creative here. If you need help staying on top of chores you could make each day of the week a chore.
If you have children and have a lot of activities, you could theme each day based on the activities you need to do/ the things you can do while the kids are busy.
Or, you could base your themes around certain priorities like family time, date nights, no screen nights, or days to try new meals.
Theme days for work
Again, this may work for some people who have flexibility. Whether you have a 9-5 job or you work for yourself it doesn’t matter!
Monday – emails
Tuesday – focus on a big project
Wednesday – admin tasks
Thursday – networking
Friday – smaller projects
What you need to do at work will determine your themes. If you are at an office you might have more paperwork than others. If you are out and about for work you might add errands or outreach.
Theme days for content creation
If you are a full-time or part-time (like me) Content creator you might find this helpful to stay on track when there is so much to do!
I am currently writing this blog, on Instagram, and TikTok, so it’s not as crazy as it could be but as I said, I do this part-time! So making sure each thing is a priority is crucial.
Monday – Pinterest pins
Tuesday – blog writing
Wednesday – blog editing
Thursday – social media captions
Friday – content scheduling
Saturday – content day (photos, videos)
Sunday – editing (for Instagram, TikTok, etc.)
Having these themes is great for part-time content creators because you have limited time. Knowing that each day you will get even a little bit done is great. Even if you only schedule 3 pins for the week it’s better than none. Even if you only write half the blog post it’s better than not starting!
Theme days for self-care
If you have a hard time treating yourself and making sure you are taken care of this could be helpful!
Monday – bubble bath
Tuesday – reading
Wednesday – home-cooked meal
Thursday – journal
Friday – buy flowers
Saturday – fitness class
Sunday – at-home spa
Pick 7 of your favorite things to do for self-care. Ideally, these would be simple things that you could do for free or very low cost. Then do that ONE thing each day.
If you know every Monday the theme is a bubble bath, you will start to do it religiously and start to look forward to that 30 minutes of ‘you’ time!
Theme days can really help you be more productive! It doesn’t matter if you are using the theme days for work, school, your home life, relationships, content creation, hobbies, self-care, or anything else.
Theme days are beneficial for reaching “flow” states and staying on track. They help you make more priorities and actually make time for the things that matter to you.
You can get creative and mix and match as well! The best part about this system is that you can do whatever works for you. It can be completely shaped to your specific life!
So, start incorporating theme days into your daily life and see how much more you get done! You got this ❤️
Have you heard of theme days before? Do you think it would work for your lifestyle?
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