It’s Sunday. Obvious right?

You know what’s coming. Monday morning. Inbox full of fires to put out. Meetings you forgot you scheduled. A to-do list that somehow grew while you were sleeping. And that sinking feeling that you’re already behind before the week even starts.

Most people deal with this by just... powering through. They wake up Monday, open their laptop, and let the chaos decide what they work on. Email. Slack. Whatever screams the loudest.

By Friday, they’re exhausted, frustrated, and wondering why they didn’t get any real work done despite being “busy” for 60 hours.

Here’s the thing: the problem isn’t that you’re not working hard enough. It’s that you’re not working on the right things. And the reason you’re not working on the right things is because you never actually decided what the right things are.

That’s what this email is about.

I’m going to walk you through the exact system I use every Sunday to plan my week. It takes 30-45 minutes. And it’s the difference between a week where I actually move my business forward and a week where I just react to whatever lands in my inbox.

This isn’t some fluffy productivity hack. It’s a repeatable process that ensures you spend your time on the stuff that matters instead of the stuff that’s urgent but ultimately meaningless.

Let’s do this.

Here is why most weekly planning fails:

Before we get into what works, let’s talk about what doesn’t.

Most people approach weekly planning one of two ways:

Option A: They don’t plan at all. They just wing it. Monday shows up and they deal with whatever comes at them.

Option B: They make a massive list of everything they want to accomplish, feel good about it for twelve seconds, and then ignore it entirely by Tuesday afternoon.

Both of these fail for the same reason: no prioritization.

You can’t do everything. You don’t have time. You never will.

The businesses that win aren’t the ones that do the most things. They’re the ones that do the right things and ignore everything else.

So the goal of your Sunday planning session isn’t to create a list of 47 tasks. It’s to identify the three to five things that will actually move the needle this week, and then build your schedule around those.

Everything else is noise.

Step One: The Brain Dump (10 Minutes)

Alright, grab a notebook or open a doc. We’re starting with a brain dump.

Write down everything that’s rattling around in your head. Every task. Every idea. Every “I should probably do that” thought.

Don’t filter. Don’t organize. Just get it all out.

This step isn’t about planning. It’s about clearing mental clutter so you can think straight.

Here’s what this might look like:

Don’t stop until your brain feels empty. This usually takes 10 minutes, sometimes less.

Once you’re done, you’re going to have a big ugly list of stuff. That’s fine. We’re about to fix it.

Step Two: The Ruthless Cut (10 Minutes)

Now we’re going to cut this list down to what actually matters.

Go through your brain dump and ask yourself one question for each item: “If I only did one thing this week, would it be this?”

If the answer is no, cross it out or move it to a “someday/maybe” list.

Be brutal here. Most of the stuff on your list doesn’t need to happen this week. Some of it doesn’t need to happen at all.

Here’s the test: will this task directly result in revenue, move a key project forward, or prevent a major problem?

If the answer is yes, it stays. If the answer is “well, it would be nice to...” it goes.

After this step, you should be left with 3-7 tasks. That’s it.

These are your Big Rocks for the week. Everything else is gravel.

Step Three: Identify Your ONE Thing (5 Minutes)

Out of those 3-7 Big Rocks, which one matters most?

If you could only accomplish one thing this week, what would it be?

This is your ONE Thing. The task that, if completed, will make everything else easier or unnecessary.

For me this week, it’s finishing the buildout of our new client onboarding system. If I get that done, it’ll save me 5-10 hours every single week going forward. Everything else on my list is important, but this one’s a multiplier.

Write your ONE Thing at the top of your plan. Underline it. Make it impossible to miss.

This is the task that gets your best time, your best energy, and your full attention. Everything else fits around it.

Step Four: Time Block Your Week (15 Minutes)

Alright, now we’re going to map your Big Rocks onto your calendar.

This is where most people screw up. They make a list and hope they’ll get to it. Hope is not a strategy.

You need to decide when you’re going to work on these tasks. Not “sometime this week.” Not “when I have time.” You need actual blocks on your calendar.

Here’s how I do it:

Monday and Tuesday mornings: Deep work on my ONE Thing. No meetings. No email. No Slack. Just focused execution.

Wednesday: Meetings, calls, collaboration. All the stuff that requires other people.

Thursday: Content creation and strategic planning. Newsletter, podcast, whatever needs to get done.

Friday: Catch-up, admin, and prep for next week.

Your schedule will be different, but the principle is the same. Protect time for your Big Rocks. If it’s not on your calendar, it’s not real.

And here’s the key: treat these blocks like meetings with your most important client. You wouldn’t cancel a meeting with a client because someone sent you an email. Don’t cancel your deep work time either.

Step Five: Build in Buffer Time (5 Minutes)

Here’s the truth nobody wants to hear: something will go wrong this week.

A client will have an emergency. A vendor will drop the ball. Your kid will get sick. Your computer will die. Something.

If your schedule is packed wall-to-wall with no room for anything unexpected, you’re going to blow up your whole plan by Tuesday.

So build in buffer time.

For every hour of deep work, add 15-20 minutes of buffer. For every day of scheduled tasks, leave at least an hour open.

This isn’t wasted time. It’s insurance. And when things go sideways (and they will), you’ll be glad you have it.

Step Six: Prep Your Monday Morning (5 Minutes)

The last step is to set yourself up for a smooth start Monday morning.

Here’s what I do every Sunday night:

The goal is to remove all friction between waking up and getting into productive work.

Most people waste the first hour of Monday just figuring out what to do. By the time they actually start working, their best mental energy is gone.

Don’t be like them. Decide on Sunday what Monday looks like. Then execute.

The Weekly Review That Makes This Actually Work

Here’s the secret that makes this whole system stick: you have to review it.

Every Sunday, before you plan next week, spend 10 minutes reviewing last week.

Ask yourself:

This isn’t about beating yourself up for what you didn’t do. It’s about learning from what happened so you can plan better next time.

Maybe you realize you’re scheduling too many meetings on Wednesday and it’s killing your momentum. Adjust.

Maybe you notice that every time you plan to work on something Friday afternoon, it doesn’t happen. Stop scheduling important work on Friday afternoon.

The weekly review closes the loop. It turns planning from a one-time thing into a system that gets better every single week.

Alright, here’s your play.

It’s Sunday. You’ve got time. Pull out a notebook or open a doc and run through this process.

Brain dump. Ruthless cut. Identify your ONE Thing. Time block. Buffer. Prep Monday.

30-45 minutes. That’s it.

And then tomorrow morning, instead of waking up to chaos, you wake up to clarity.

You know what you’re working on. You know why it matters. And you know exactly when you’re going to get it done.

That’s the difference between a week that feels like you’re drowning and a week where you actually make progress.

The One Tool That Changed My Weekly Planning

I used to do all of this in a notebook. And that worked fine.

But about a year ago, I started using a system that combines time blocking, task management, and focus tracking all in one place. It’s called Rize, and it’s basically a productivity tool that runs in the background, tracks how you’re spending your time, and gives you data on where your week actually went.

The reason I like it: it holds me accountable. I can plan all I want, but Rize shows me whether I actually followed through. And when I see that I spent four hours in email when I planned to spend one, I know I need to fix something.

If you’re serious about weekly planning and you want to see whether you’re actually doing what you said you’d do, check it out:

https://rize.io?code=82B5DE&utm_source=refer&name=Dan

And if you want the complete Weekly Planning Template I use (with prompts, checklists, and everything laid out step-by-step), reply with the word PLAN and I’ll send it over. It’s a Google Doc you can copy and customize for your own business.

Most people spend more time planning their vacation than they spend planning their week.

Then they wonder why they feel like they’re running in circles.

Your week doesn’t have to be chaotic. It doesn’t have to feel like you’re constantly reacting to everyone else’s priorities.

You just need a system. A repeatable process that ensures you’re working on what matters instead of what’s urgent.

This is that system.

Use it. Adjust it. Make it your own.

And next Sunday, when you’re planning your week, you’ll actually know what you’re doing.

See you Monday.

Dan

P.S. If you’ve been following along with the newsletters this week, you’ve got four solid systems now: the revenue audit, the automation framework, the email writing system, and the weekly planning process. That’s a hell of a toolkit. Actually implement them and you’ll be miles ahead of everyone else who just reads stuff and never does anything with it.

P.P.S. Seriously, take 30 minutes today and plan your week. Don’t wait until Monday morning when you’re already behind. Do it now while you’ve got the time and the headspace. Future you will thank you.