The Sunday Reset; Tips I've learnt to rise above the chaos during term time

Tips I've picked up to help make things feel more manageable during term time as a mum, teacher, senior leader and EdD student...

To help you with some of the plates you're spinning...

This blog is a little more personal than my usual research-based blogs, but I’m going back to work in October after having time away from school for maternity leave and I’m starting to mentally prepare for the transition. Life has been so different recently, whether you’ve been on parental leave like me, or just really enjoying your 6 weeks of holiday. Going back to work and tackling teaching, the change in routines and busy schedules can feel really daunting.

For full disclosure, this blog may be useful if any or all of the following apply to you: you’re a parent; you’re someone who likes to wear makeup but doesn’t have time; you’re a control enthusiast (see Sarah Millican); you’re time-poor in the mornings; and you’d like fresh dinners, but don’t have time to cook them. Also worth mentioning that this is written from a position of privilege, including, but not limited to the fact I have two, healthy, involved parents who live nearby and fully support my career. Additionally, my husband works from home and is a total legend. However, regardless of our level of support or responsibility, whatever plates you’re spinning, it’s nice to feel like you have a cheat sheet. I really dislike the 'you have the same 24 hours as Beyoncé', 'girl boss' rhetoric, however, the reality is that term times are hard and we all have stuff to do. Whilst I don’t pretend to know everything, I wish I’d have known all of this when I returned to work after my first maternity leave and so decided to put all the tips I’ve picked up along the way together so you don’t have to do it the hard way! I hope you find a tip or two.

Also, I told a friend I was writing this, and they said Ruth Ashbee did a very interesting thread about this on X back in the good old days when it was Twitter in 2019. You can find this here.

The Sunday Reset

This whole plan is based around the concept of the Sunday reset. This can be whatever you need it to be, but essentially you get yourself ready for the whole week in one go on a Sunday. I pause with a pen and paper and ask myself how I can make my life easier over the next week. I realised I do this for other people, but not myself and since I started, life has just gotten easier. In our home, this happens during naptime and for about an hour after the kids go to bed. Start with a list of things you’ve got on in the coming week (we use Google Calendar to do this) and think about how you can help future you as much as possible. We have a ‘week on a page’ style plan that goes in the notebook in the kitchen so we can map out who is doing pick-ups, who is working late and all the logistical bits for the week.

Meal Prep

I usually get food from the canteen at work during the day as I’m on duty anyway, but like to have a range of fresh meals when we get home. On a Sunday I will get an Asda shop in for about 1pm and then cook things that have similar ingredients but different flavours for the week. When the planets align, this can be a fun activity to do with my eldest. I steal most of my ideas from TikTok to be honest, but you can’t go wrong with spag bol and a veggie curry so these are firm staples in our house. If I don’t have time to cook something or am feeling lazy, I will put together slow cooker ‘dump bags’. Hate the name, love the idea. Essentially, you get everything together in a ziplock bag and simply pop it in the low cooker in the morning, coming home to a meal that’s ready to go. I also put together little snack boxes for the kids and my husband packs up fruit salads so they can be grabbed quickly in the morning. Our baby is weaning so I just blitz the appropriate bits of meals for him and stick them in the fridge for him to throw all over the kitchen floor at his leisure.

Outfit Prep

I don’t have time to get dressed up for work each morning, but want to look smart and presentable. With two kids and a dog to wrangle, getting up in the morning includes at least one meltdown (usually me) and putting together a nice outfit just isn’t going to happen. Instead, I take out the drama and pick 5 outfits on a Sunday night and place them in the wardrobe in order ready. In the mornings, I just grab them and go. If you want to take this to the extreme I have, I only buy work clothes in grey, white, black, blue and green so nearly everything matches. This sounds hyper-organised, but is in fact born from the reality that I’m rubbish at remembering to do the washing. My friend who is a science teacher started doing this after she stayed with me for a week and she said it transformed her mornings!

Makeup Prep

So you’re probably not as vain as me, but as I am extremely pale, if I go to work without makeup on, I spend the day with people constantly asking me if I’m ok! I like wearing makeup as it makes me feel like an armoured version of myself. That I’ve put on my assistant principal persona (I don’t wear it much outside of school), but again… no time. On a Sunday I will tint my eyebrows (I use beard dye as it works just as well and you don’t pay the pink tax), so I don’t need to put anything on them all week. Lash lifts or extensions (you don’t have to go for massive and swooshy a.k.a. ‘The Year 10’ as lot of them are very natural looking) can be done in a salon or at home. This saves time with no need for mascara. In the mornings now, I just put a little bit of concealer under my eyes and some blusher and I’m good to go. I only get my hair cut once or twice a year, so rely on sleep-in curling bands if I want my hair to look nice. I wish I could splurge on beauty treatments, but its not on the cards, so instead I do most of the stuff myself at home. Facials, hair dying, gel nails. All part of the Sunday reset. Things like nails cost so much time and money and if that’s your treat… go for it! However, I can never make it to a nail bar regularly so have overgrown nails more often than I have nice ones. If you want to do it at home, you can get all the stuff online and there are loads of tutorials with step-by-step guides. I bought myself the full gel nails kit three months ago and I’ve already made my money back. This just helps me feel put together and confident ahead of a week working in such a people facing role.

Seasonal Prepping

Ahead of each term I make sure that the medicine cupboard is well and truly stocked up. Schools are germ factories and it’s so easy to get ill, especially during the long first term. Echinacea has been shown to reduce the length of a cold by 15% and so that’s a staple in our house. Additionally, I can’t function if I’m not at my best physically so multivitamins are a must. As part of the Sunday reset, I will also make ginger shots using the BBC Good Food recipe as its so easy and much cheaper than buying them.

Using Tech to Set Reminders

I remember going to a WomenEd online event where a brilliant speaker said she used her Alexa to set timers to that her children knew when play time would end and to set reminders. This is so helpful and I have a few set to remind me to do things throughout the week. Katy very kindly read this before it was sent out and she says that using reminders on her phone is an undervalued resource. She also has a list that is shared on hers and her husband's phones so they can both see what needs picking up if they pop to the shop.

5am Mornings

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put this in here as I really don’t like the idea of encouraging waking up early as a normal thing. I get the whole 5am culture but feel like it goes too far sometimes and there are some really unhealthy things out there on socials. However, I would be a hypocrite without mentioning it as I get up at 5am twice a week during term time. During my extra hour I work on my EdD, catch up with important projects or workout; whatever takes priority. This means I don’t work anywhere near as much in the evenings and the quality of my work is better as I’m a morning person. There is also something incredibly peaceful about being the only one awake before the chaos starts! Sometimes I just sit with a cup of coffee and read my book as a treat!

Final thoughts...

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably thinking I’m a control enthusiast and a little bit sad. You’d be right. But you’ve read this far, so hopefully some of it was helpful. On a Sunday I am probably a bit much, but the rest of the week I feel ready and content. Busy days no longer feel hectic and most importantly, I know I’ve looked at the things I need to do during the week and helped myself out as much as I can. Some Sundays I’m so knackered I relax on the sofa and skip the whole thing, but that’s fine too. McDonald’s exists and so do messy buns. It’s all about doing what you can and surviving until half-term!