A Gentle Sunday Reset Practice
You know that Sunday feeling when it is technically still the weekend, but it does not feel like it anymore.
The light is starting to fade. You’re scrolling even though you are not enjoying what you are seeing. You start doing the math. How many hours are left of the weekend. How early you have to wake up the next morning. What you forgot to reply to. What you need to wear. What you are out of in the kitchen. The Sunday scaries are real.
This post is for the woman who wants her Sundays to feel soft so her Mondays feel productive.
I am going to give you a gentle Sunday reset routine you can do in about an hour. You will tidy the parts of your home that affect your mood the most. You will put your week on paper so it stops living in your head. You will set up Monday morning so you start calm.
Table of contents
• What a gentle Sunday reset routine is
• Set the tone in two minutes
• The 60 minute Sunday reset checklist
• The 20 minute mini reset
• How to keep it gentle
• Playlist and reading list
What a gentle Sunday reset routine is
A gentle Sunday reset routine is a small weekly cleanup of your life. Not in a dramatic way. In a practical way.
The dishes are done. Surfaces clear. Laundry done. The point is not to become a woman who “has it all together.” The point is to give yourself a softer nervous system and a cleaner start to the week.
If you do this most Sundays, you will notice the difference by Monday morning. Your space feels quieter. Your mind feels quieter. You move gracefully, even when you have a lot to do.
Set the tone in two minutes
Before you do anything, take a few small steps to prepare.
Put your phone on silent and set it face down. Open a window for a minute. Put on music. Make your favorite drink.
More in Wellness
The 60 minute Sunday reset checklist
Part 1: Get it out of your head, 15 minutes
☐ Two minute brain dump
Write everything that is nagging at you. No organizing. Just a brain dump on paper.
☐ Choose three priorities for the week
One work thing. One personal thing. One health thing.
☐ Decide what you are not doing
Pick one thing you are dropping. One call you do not need to make. One errand you can skip.
Script for your notes
This week I am focusing on ______. I am not available for ______. I am keeping my evenings lighter by ______.
Part 2: Reset the space that changes your mood, 20 minutes
☐ Kitchen
Wash dishes or run a dishwasher cycle. Clear the counters and wipe them down. Trash out the trash.
☐ Living area
Clear one surface. Put stray items away. Make the couch look like you live a softer life.
☐ Bedroom
Make the bed. Put clothes in the hamper or fold/hang them. Clear your nightstand.
Part 3: Structure your week, 15 minutes
☐ Look at your calendar
See what’s coming up for both work and personal.
☐ Choose a quick win for Monday morning
One small task you can do fast. Something that makes you feel capable.
☐ Schedule something fun or relaxing
Examples: Wednesday workout. Friday night in.
Part 4: Set up Monday morning, 10 minutes
☐ Choose a simple breakfast and a simple dinner
Nothing new. Nothing complicated. Prep in advance or set it up so that it’s easy to prepare the next day.
☐ Pick your outfit
Set it out. Iron or steam it if needed. Put out all your accessories as well.
☐ One message that closes a loop
Confirm an appointment. Reply to one person. Pay one bill. Close one tab.
Stop after an hour. Even if you could do more. Especially if you could do more.
The 20 minute mini reset
If you are tired or your day is full, do this and still be ahead of the game.
• Five minutes: brain dump and three priorities
• Ten minutes: kitchen plus one surface
• Five minutes: calendar glance and Monday setup
How to keep it gentle
Use a timer. It keeps you from turning this into a whole production.
Stay out of deep cleaning, decluttering and organizing. That is how your Sunday disappears.
Have one small pocket of quiet time after the reset. You want your body to associate Sunday with peace, not effort.
Playlist and reading list
Music you can put on and forget about
• Peaceful Piano by Spotify
• Coffee Table Jazz by Spotify
• Jazz for Autumn by Spotify
• Chill Classical by Spotify
• Brian Eno, Music for Airports
Soft Sunday books that match the mood
Fiction
• The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
• I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
• A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
• The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
Nonfiction for calm perspective
• Wintering by Katherine May
• How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell
• The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyo Masuno
• The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking
Food and home, simple and elegant
• Small Victories by Julia Turshen
• Dinner in One by Melissa Clark
• Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines
A gentle Sunday reset routine is one of those small habits that makes you productive without the stress. Not because you added more to do, but because you removed the mental clutter.
Do the checklist once. Then adjust it until it feels like your version of Sunday.
Do you currently have a Sunday reset routine? If so, share it with me in the comments below. Let’s chat!
