Sunday is my favorite day of the week.

I sleep in. I don’t do any structured exercise. I don’t set an alarm. I don’t plan ahead.

And most importantly, I don’t try to make Monday easier.

Last Sunday I read for three hours and watched two Netflix documentaries. Sometimes I take my kids ice skating, or visit my dad, or just hang out in my pajamas and encourage the kids to go “upstairs, downstairs, or outside.”

This is not how Sundays used to be.

My Sundays used to be my days “off” of work. But instead of being restful, Sundays were quite stressful. I’d cram as much as I could into the day – grocery shopping, preparing kids’ lunches, laundry, laundry, laundry! Occasionally I’d clear my email inbox. Clean. Organize. And basically “prepare for the week” as much as possible.  

But the problem is that by Monday, I was not well rested. I was exhausted.

I also felt guilty. I took Sundays off work so that I could spend time with my family. But in reality, I was just busy doing chores.

The Great Shift

So, after several months of feeling exhausted, I made a long list of everything I “had to do” on Sundays. This included laundry, groceries, cleaning the house, making lunches for the kids, and laying out the kids’ clothes. Sometimes there were other things (haircuts, errands, etc.).

Instead of cramming all of these chores into Sunday, I delegated these to different days of the week and out to other people as much as I could. For example:

• I hired someone to come twice a week during the day while I am working to clean, fold, and put away laundry, and lay out the kids’ clothes. She also makes lunches mid-week. On weeks she is not available, I do laundry on Mondays and Thursdays. I also get my kids to help put it away.
  • I make a total of six lunches for my three kids (for Monday/Tuesday) on Saturday afternoon. Surprisingly, the lunches stay perfectly fine for Monday and Tuesday.   
  • I do grocery delivery on Friday night or Saturday morning (there are more options available these days anyway!)
  • If I want to pre-cook for the week, I do this on Saturday afternoons or occasionally, Monday morning.

Not everyone can outsource laundry or grocery shopping. That is not the point. The point is intentional redistribution. If you cannot pay someone to do it, you can still move it. You can split it. You can lower the standard. You can involve your partner or your kids. You can decide that some things simply will not happen on Sundays anymore. A rest day is not about having fewer responsibilities overall. It is about choosing when you carry them. Even small shifts, like doing one load of laundry on Wednesday instead of four on Sunday, can completely change how the day feels.

Choosing to make Sunday a Rest Day

I choose to rest on Sundays. This means that most Sundays I do not have a long “to do” list of chores that I am not looking forward to. It is also the only day I wake up without an alarm clock.

One misconception about a rest day is that there are “no plans.” The problem with this is that often if you have no plans, the day will include boredom, fighting, and less-than-healthy behaviors (overeating, overdrinking, overspending). There is nothing wrong with planning down time to be bored or allow the kids to have—my favorite—the elusive, “quiet independent play time.” But having some structure to the day is actually very beneficial to a rest day.  For example, maybe you do indulge in a large meal on Sunday nights—so plan it! Then you can look forward to it, savor it, and not feel guilty about it afterward. Maybe you want to watch the entire season of Is It Cake? Fine. Plan it! Add it to the calendar. Then you can make it a true celebration!

I will often have ideas of what I want to do on Sunday, including:

• Going outside
  • Reading
  • Playing
  • Low effort meals or treats (e.g. breakfast, cookies)
  • Family rituals
  • Watching shows everyone will enjoy

I often like to use Sunday as a day to indulge in sleep, delicious food, a good book, and a nice glass of wine with dinner!

Sunday activities can (and should!) still be planned but should focus on being relaxing and family-oriented.

Sunday Rule: No Sunday tasks that benefit Monday.

My rule is now: if it makes Monday easier, it happens another day.

• You don’t earn rest by being productive. You plan rest.  
• Sunday is not for preparation. It is for relaxation.
• Catch-up culture is a choice, not a necessity.

Benefits of Making Sunday a Rest Day

If you make Sunday a true rest day, you will feel the difference quickly.
You will sleep better.
You will be more present with your family.
You will start Monday with energy instead of resentment.

And perhaps most importantly, you will stop living in constant preparation mode.

Life does not need to be optimized seven days a week.

Rest is not something you earn after productivity.
It is something you protect in advance.

If you constantly feel like there is never enough time during the week, the real issue is rarely Sunday itself. It is how your time is structured Monday through Saturday. I walk through this in detail in my 7-Hour Challenge, where I show you how to design your week so you are not forced into Sunday catch-up mode.

I also put together a free guide for working moms with unconventional productivity strategies you can implement immediately.