#CreateGood 30 Day Challenge

Nothing sets your week up for success more than a productive Sunday. By taking a few hours out of your weekend to get everything ready for the workdays ahead, you can set yourself up for success in every area of your life. Trying toeat healthier? Working toward some career goals? Trying to reduce stress in your life? All of these goals can be more easily accomplished by laying the proper groundwork for each week as it starts. Here are a few of the habits you should try to cultivate on Sundays for a more productive workweek.

Photo by Ella Olsson on Unsplash

1. Meal prep. First and foremost, meal prepping makes eating healthy throughout the week significantly easier. This is especially true if you work full time. Meal prepping doesn’t have to be a multi-hour, day-long process either. Here are a few of our favorite tips and tricks for keeping it quick:

• Meal-prep your breakfasts by creating ready-to-go smoothies. Slice up whatever fruit and veggies you like to use and place them, along with any other mix-ins, into a ziplock bag. Store in the freezer. Each morning, all you need to do is add the contents of the bag along with water or milk to your blender and hit go.
• Batch-cook your proteins for the week by laying 5-6 servings of meat on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven and store in the fridge, and then reheat throughout the week.
• Cook a huge batch of rice or quinoa as a base for convenient, ready-to-go healthy sides.
• Pre-slice any veggies you use tend to use often so you don't have to slice them up as you cook throughout the week. Common combos include mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery), sofrito (onion, garlic, tomato, bell pepper), and the Cajun “holy trinity" (onion, bell pepper, celery).

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2. Organize your planner. Whether you use a day planner or a bullet journal, take 30 minutes or so to get everything organized for the week. Write in any appointments, plans, or projects you have on the horizon, and section off as much time as you'll need to get everything done. You can also use your planner to make grocery lists, track habits you want to accomplish each day, and schedule relaxation time.

3. Set goals. While you're working in your planner, set some goals for the week. Make sure they are timely things you can actually accomplish before the following Sunday: When you set unattainable goals, you only stress yourself out. In your planner, break down concrete steps and actions to take to ensure you achieve those weekly goals.

Photo by Lee Campbell on Unsplash

4. Clean out your bag. Too many of us start the week with last weekend's receipts, wrappers, scraps, movie tickets, and god-knows-what-else in our bags. Give yourself an organized start to the week and stay ahead of the mess by cleaning out your purse.

5. Pick out your outfits. Take a glance at the weather forecast, and use it to inform what outfits you want to wear on each day of the week. Even if you're WFH these days, having outfits all picked out will keep you feeling both comfy and ready to crush the day each day. You can either fold each outfit and arrange them side by side, our plan the outfits in an app like Stylebook.

6. Call an accountability partner. Pick a person — be it your mom, your best friend, or your SO — who will be an uplifting force in your life and help you stay focused as the week goes on. Agree to check in on each other mid-week to see how each other is doing and help gently remind each other of the goals you both want to accomplish. This should be a person who can also lend a friendly ear if you need to vent about your passion project, your coworker, or your creative blocks.

What productivity hacks do you use to prepare for the week? Tweet us @BritandCo and let us know, and sign up for our newsletter to get more tips delivered straight to your inbox!

Smartphones often get a bad rap when it comes to mental health. It's partly because they're the gateway to social media, which leads to the potential pitfalls of comparing your real life to other people's perfectly curated feeds. And it's partly because some studies have found that they can be addictive, although the research on that is a work in progress. But totally dismissing smartphones deprives us of a powerful tool that can be used to make us feel calmer, more productive, and less stressed. Check out these five ways you can use your phone to promote good mental health.

1. Take a photo a day. Instagram food pics, anyone? A study published in the journal Health spent two months following eight people who were already engaged in taking and posting a photo a day to a sharing site to see how the practice affected their mental health. The participants reported a range of benefits; for example, the project prompted them to be more mindful and to take time out to do something for themselves, even on a busy day. Knowing that they had to find something to photograph gave them a reason to leave the house and a sense of purpose and structure.

In addition, the online community who commented on and liked the photos gave some of them a sense of belonging, although others reported that the obligation to respond to these followers made them feel overwhelmed. Those who had been going through a personal struggle said that having a record of photos was a visual reminder that they'd made it through. The authors noted that since their subjects were already involved in their own “photo a day" project, the people most likely to get these benefits are those who already have an interest in taking and sharing photos. So if that sounds like you, grab your phone, open Insta, and give it a go.

2. Use a mental health app. Easily accessible and often free, mental health apps are another layer of support if you're having a difficult day and can't make it to an extra support group session. One study looked at reviews of various apps and found that they can improve the symptoms of conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Different apps serve different mental health needs. If you need information, or a reminder to take medication, you can try text message services, which means you can receive information anonymously. Other apps, like What's Up (free on Android and iOS) and MoodTools (free on Android and iOS) are designed specifically for people with mild to moderate depression and are more interactive, combining activities based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and other therapeutic practices. These include thought trackers so you can monitor your positive and negative moods, diaries secure from prying eyes, breathing techniques, distraction games, and information on symptoms and treatments. Another app that could help with anxiety is iBreathe (free on iOS) which guides you through deep breathing exercises.

A study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research noted that some users reported that they used these apps instead of paying for a therapist. However, many of the app websites note that they are designed as supplements, rather than replacements, for seeing a mental health professional.

3. Make a playlist. There's a reason listening to your favorite song is an instant mood boost. Research has shown that music can stop the production of the stress hormone cortisol and can help reduce the emotional distress of physical pain. An analysis of 25 studies that was published in the World Journal of Psychiatry found that music therapy can be an effective and non-invasive treatment for mood disorders and depression in patients with neurological conditions. And it's not just classical music: The genre of music most likely to get you into an easygoing and creative frame of mind is… any genre you like. While scientists used to think that listening to Mozart specifically had a positive influence on the brain, further research has since shown that the kind of music is less important than your enjoyment of it. So own your Swiftie sessions; it's good for your mental health.

4. Watch cat videos. According to what may be the greatest study of all time, those adorable videos of cats you can't get enough of really do count as a form of self-care. Published in the journal Elsevier, the study looked at why people watch cat videos online and the potential pros and cons. The researchers found, to no one's surprise, that people watch cat videos as a method of “mood management," and that after watching cats on the internet, viewers reported lower levels of negative emotions and more positive emotions, and were re-energized. However, the researchers pointed out that your enjoyment of cat videos may be slightly lower if you're using them to procrastinate from something important, since that might tinge your viewing experience with guilt — so save them for cocktail hour.

5. Use a guided meditation app. Always wanted to try meditation but don't know where to start? Amanda Ruiz, MS, LPC, Pennsylvania-based counselor and founder of The Counseling Collective, recommends apps to get you in the habit. “The first few times you attempt to meditate can be difficult; it might be hard to notice your senses, or to stay focused on one positive thought. Apps like Calm and Headspace offer guided meditations for those who aren't sure how to get started with meditating." Both Calm (free on Android and iOS, then $12.99/month) and Headspace (free on Android and iOS, then $12.99/month) offer seven-day free trials, with the option to subscribe if you like the app and want access to all the features. Each has meditations on specific topics like sleep, anxiety, and self-esteem, plus mindfulness meditations, breathing exercises, and ways to track your progress. If you struggle to stop your mind from swirling on your own, using these apps can help you build up the practice of meditating into a daily habit, Ruiz explains. Same old smartphone, less stressed you.

How do you use your smartphone to unwind? Tell us about it @BritandCo.

(Photo via Glen Anthony/Unsplash)

This post has been updated.

As much as I love celebrity couples, I love celebrity sibling relationships even more. And Elle and Dakota Fanning are two sisters I've grown up watching since I first saw Dreamer in 2005. Considering Elle Fanning is only five months older than me, and I have a sister of my own, this is one relationship that feels particularly familiar. And while Elle has also watched Dakota Fanning act since we were kids, Dakota just revealed seeing Elle onscreen is just as special for her.

Here's why Dakota & Elle Fanning get emotional seeing each other onscreen.

You can see Elle Fanning in A Complete Unknown, in theaters December 25, and you can also stream Dakota Fanning's new show The Perfect Couple on Netflix now.