My Sunday Routine I Swear By

Every Sunday I wake up a little earlier than I would like to. My fiancé gets up around 5 a.m. to get ready for work, and I stay in bed pretending I’m going to fall back asleep. I never do. God has other plans for me, and honestly, I’ve stopped fighting it.

I want to be really honest with you before I get into any of this, because I think a lot of routine posts skip the part that actually matters. I did not always have a Sunday routine. I didn’t have a routine at all, really. I was in one of the lowest points of my life and my days just kind of happened to me. I’d stay in bed all day, tell myself tomorrow would be different, and then do the same thing tomorrow.

What changed was watching other people. I kept noticing women whose lives seemed lighter, easier, more put together, and it wasn’t because they had more money or more time. It was because they had something in place. A rhythm. Something they could come back to. And I remember thinking, I want that. Not for a job, not for a man, not for anyone else. I wanted one thing in my life that I could point at and say I built this for myself.

So I did. I’ve been keeping this routine on and off for about six months now, and I say on and off because I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m perfect at it. Some Sundays I forget the whole thing exists and stay in bed until noon. But it’s there waiting for me whenever I decide to come back to it, and that’s the part I love.

Here’s what my Sunday actually looks like.

It starts with the blinds

The first thing I do when I wake up is open my blinds. If the sun isn’t out yet, I’ll stay in bed a little longer, but the second I see light I’m up and opening my balcony blinds.

I love getting sun in the morning. It is genuinely the best way to start your day, and it’s not just a vibe thing. Morning light helps regulate your body clock, which affects your mood, your energy, and how well you sleep that same night.

And listen, I’m not out here with some gorgeous view. I see butterflies. Sometimes birds. My neighbors walking by. The sun hitting my face and my arms. My cat losing her mind with happiness because the blinds are finally open. That’s it. That’s the whole scene, and it does more for me than any amount of scrolling ever has.

Then I drink my water. I do grab my phone, but with a purpose. I put on my daily readings first, and then Bible in a Year. That’s my phone’s job in the morning.

Home church

I don’t go to a physical church, and I want to talk about this honestly because I know I’m not the only one.

The church is a little far for me, and my fiancé works on Sundays, and I don’t like going alone. That’s the truth. I would love to be in a pew every Sunday morning. There are rare occasions where I get to go with him, usually something special like my birthday, and those days mean everything to me. But most weeks, it’s just not how my life is set up right now.

I used to feel really guilty about that. Some Sundays I still do. But I’ve come to a place where I believe God meets you where you are, and where I am is my office with the candles lit.

So at 7 a.m. every Sunday, sometimes 8 or 9 depending on how my morning is going, I get on YouTube and watch Fr. Mike’s Sunday mass. I sit in my office with my candles on and my journal next to me, and if I’m in the mood, a coffee in my hand.

After mass, I read my Bible. I’m doing Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike through the Hallow app and the Ascension app, and I’m currently on Day 29. I took a three-day break recently and I’m not even a little bit sorry about it. It is a lot to take in. It’s a lot to sit with and understand, and I decided early on that I’m not going to force myself to read every single day just to keep a streak alive. I’d rather actually absorb it. If you’re doing Bible in a Year too and you’ve fallen behind, please hear me: you have not failed. Pick it back up.

Working on my blog

Believe it or not, I still work on my blog site on Sundays.

I know everybody says Sunday is supposed to be your rest day. For me, that’s Saturday. Sunday is my batching day for the week, sometimes for the whole month. This month is my birthday month, so I have a stack of articles already written and scheduled while I handle wedding stuff and life stuff.

What I actually do in that block: I look over my analytics, mostly traffic and top posts so I know what’s connecting with you all. I check any emails I’ve missed. And I make sure the site is running the way it’s supposed to, because there is nothing worse than finding out three days later that something’s been broken.

Some Sundays this takes hours. Some Sundays it takes fifteen minutes. I let it be whatever it needs to be.

The everything shower

This is the part of my Sunday I look forward to all week.

Sunday is my everything shower. I exfoliate my entire body, wash my hair, shave, do a facial, all of it. And I always save it for the end of the day, when everything else is done and I can actually relax instead of rushing through it.

What I use:

• Body wash: Dove body soap
• Body scrub: the Dove Bridgerton scrub
• Shampoo: Redken repair
• Cleanser: Rhode Beauty
• Body oil: Vaseline, which I absolutely love
• Lotion: Hempz

Nothing fancy. Nothing that costs a fortune. Just things that work and feel good on my skin.

The atmosphere is honestly half of it. Gentle music, candlelight, dim lighting, and a glass of wine. I’m not in a rush and nobody needs anything from me. That hour is mine.

When I get out, I do my hair routine. If I’m wearing it curly, I put on my curl cream. If I’m not, it’s Color Wow and my Tresemmé heat protectant, then a blow dry, and sometimes a straightener after. I have keratin, so I don’t always feel the need to.

Then it’s really cute comfy pajamas, and I’m in bed around 7 or 8 just to start winding down.

The little things that make Monday easier

Depending on the day, I’ll throw in a load of laundry or change my sheets. There’s something about getting into clean sheets after an everything shower that makes me feel like a whole new person.

I don’t meal plan. I’ve tried, it’s not me. But I do try to plan my week as much as I can, so Monday doesn’t hit me sideways.

Why I swear by it

I’m not going to tell you this routine fixed my life, because it didn’t. What it did was give me something to come back to.

That’s what a routine actually is. It’s not a performance, it’s not a checklist you fail at, and it’s not something you have to do perfectly to get the benefit of. It’s a soft place to land. On the Sundays I do all of it, I feel amazing. On the Sundays I do one thing, opening my blinds and letting the sun in, that still counts.

If you’re at a low point right now and reading this thinking there’s no way you could keep up with any of it, start with one thing. Open your blinds. That’s it. That’s how I started.

Build something small that’s just for you. You’ll be surprised at how much it holds you.