New semester. New you. One thing most college students need to improve–making their Sundays productive rather than just a day everyone wants to avoid. No more lounging around and wasting time that could be spent planning out your week. Sundays call for getting up on your feet, cranking out all your boring assignments and cleaning up your messy apartment (from the 10/10 pregame you hosted Saturday night).
Read along and spark your inspiration to make the best of your future Sundays.
1. Wake Up Earlier
Hey, you don’t need to wake up at the crack of dawn or anything (unless you want to). Progressively, set your alarm earlier by 30 minutes every weekend until you feel satisfied with your sleeping schedule. “If I wake up late and then do homework, I feel like I spend my whole day doing homework, so I try to avoid doing it in the first place. If I wake up early, then my whole day isn’t spent just doing homework,” Jessica Schwarz said, a sophomore at the University of Maryland. Most college students tend to feel too hungover from their adventurous Saturday night endeavors to wake up before noon, so beat the stigma and use those extra few hours to make your Sundays more productive.
2. Drink Lots of Water
Don’t spend your Sunday fighting a dreadful hangover headache. Grab a refillable water bottle and get in the habit of carrying it around with you. This way, you learn to drink the entire bottle until it needs to be refilled. The water wakes you up, hydrates your alcohol-filled body and provides energy to spark your productivity. Say “peace out” to your hangover and “hello” to the beginning of your Sunday Funday.
3. Grab Cleaning Supplies and…Clean Up
Sunday morning cleaning hits different–it’s like Spring Cleaning comes once a week. Starting your Sunday by cleaning up your room and organizing your whole living space makes you feel superior and ready to take the week by the horns. Use this time to get that beer stench out of your apartment and throw out all those empty cans. “I always clean to get ready for the week ahead, but I’m usually probably avoiding the homework I haven’t done yet. It’s a stress reliever because I feel in control and organized when I’m cleaning,” Autumn Palma said, a sophomore at Eckerd College. A freshly cleaned environment brings about less stress and motivation to get the rest of your responsibilities in order. Cleaning your apartment also takes away the need to clean up during the week when your workload piles up and the stress hits you off the walls. Be proactive and get your chores done on your free day.
4. Do Your Homework and Study
Prior to diving into your homework, make a list prioritizing what assignments need to be completed first. Once you complete your homework assignments, study for any upcoming tests or quizzes. Make the necessary Quizlets and paper flashcards to prepare for your dreadful tests. “If I haven’t done the homework already before Sunday, it’s the last chance I get to prepare for Monday, and I feel guilty just sleeping all day without getting homework done or at least studying for a few hours,” Palma said. Pro tip: if your living space seems to get too noisy for you to concentrate, do your homework at an on-campus library where you can sit in a quiet room or a study carrel. Most libraries have coffee shops, so caffeinate when the nights of studying last later than normal.
5. Get Some Fresh Air
In between study sessions, give yourself a break. Tie up your sneakers and go outside. Grab your friends for a quick game of volleyball or just throw around a frisbee or football. If winter weather has sprung, go for a quick walk or jog to rejuvenate your body. Getting a quick breath of fresh air calms you down and gives you space to breathe and relax. Nothing like some cold air to slap you right in the face and keep you awake.
6. Check Your Grades
Many students avoid logging onto Canvas–if you don’t see a failing grade, you must not be failing…right? Throughout the school week, you hustle and bustle to complete your assignments, so it gets easy to forget to check up on your grades. “I check my grades on Sunday. It helped to check on Sundays since most of my teachers graded on Sunday, and I was able to ask questions on the assignments I messed up on,” said Madison Boykin, a sophomore at the University of the District of Columbia. Sundays give you time to analyze your grades as well as double-check that your professors did not make any mistakes. This visually shows you what classes you need to work harder on and what classes you’re acing.
7. Watch Sunday Football Games
The best part of the winter? NFL Sundays. While productivity is important, let yourself have a little bit of chill time. After all, the week didn’t start yet. Cheer on your favorite National Football League team surrounded by your friends and some good ‘ole food. Use this time for your study break or even keep your laptop by your side for commercial breaks. Hopefully, your football team pulls through for a win.
8. Plan Out Your Week
Nothing calms the mind more than planning out your upcoming week. Grab your cute, decorative planner or notebook and list out all the items you need to complete during the week as well as your work schedule, practice schedule, club schedule and sporting events. “Every Sunday, I use my planner to plan out my week. It makes me feel good that I have everything written out for the week that I can look back at and know what I need to do,” Schwarz said. Write it out nicely and make it colorful so it doesn’t look like a jumbled mess. Every day, look back at this list to know exactly what you need to complete in order to stay on top of college life. You wrote everything down for a reason–remember to actually look back at it.
9. Meal Prep
Don’t have a dining plan? Do you have your own kitchen, instead? If yes, then set aside some time to cook some of your favorite meals. Once your food cools, grab a ton of Tupperware containers and fill them up for your future lunches and dinners for the week. Cooking will be one less thing you need to worry about. Meal prepping takes some time, but it pays off in the end. Make sure to clean up all the dirty pots and pans to keep your sink clean and your roommates happy.
10. Go to Bed Early
Sleep deprived from your busy weekend? Climb into bed a bit earlier than you normally would to obtain some much-needed restful sleep. “I go to bed early on Sundays mainly because I work nine hours on Sunday and get off earlier than I do on weekdays. It’s not so much a jumpstart of my week as a catch up on sleep from the previous week,” said Lia Malley, a junior at the University of Washington. If you have a class earlier than 10 a.m., turn your phone off, stop watching TikToks and hit the hay early. After a long weekend, sleep really powers your body up for the busy week ahead.
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