The fastest way to make a week feel easy is not cooking less. It is cooking the same thing on purpose.
Pick one protein and cook a big batch of it on the day you have the most time. Then plan for it to show up three different ways: as the main event the first night, tucked into something else the second, and stretched into a wrap, bowl or pasta the third. Same effort, three dinners, and none of them feel like leftovers because they do not look like leftovers.
The trick is seasoning the batch lightly. A plain shredded chicken can become buffalo, taco or garlic parmesan. A heavily seasoned one can only ever be itself.