Here are some suggestions (these are NOT halachot!) of what to prepare in advance of Shabbat. Add or delete to suit your needs!
 
Candle Lighting

• Check candle lighting time
• Set the candles in their holders (and have matches nearby)

 
Set the Table
Set the table, including the challa and its cover and the wine cup.
 
Kitchen Preparation

• Sharpen knives
• Tear paper towels
• Refrigerator: Turn off or unscrew lights; disconnect any LEDs or fans
• Set up blech
• Set up hot water urn
• Turn off stove, oven

 
Food Preparation

• Thaw frozen meat, fish, and other food that might take hours to defrost before being cooked
• Cook whatever can be cooked ahead of time on Thursday night, Friday morning, or earlier in the week
• Squeeze lemons; do any other boreir-type preparations
• Chill wine
• Open bottles and cans that will be needed on Shabbat
• Prepare tea essence

 
Cleaning

• Make beds
• Sweep or vacuum
• Dump garbage

 
Clothing

• Do laundry
• Empty pockets of muktza (or if there is no eruv, of everything!)
• For men, set out Shabbat talit

 
Muktza
Check that nothing you will need is beneath a muktza item
 
Personal Care

• Cut hair and nails, if needed
• For men, shave or trim beard and mustache, if needed
• Tear dental floss
• Tear toilet paper or put out tissues in bathrooms
• Open any new boxes of tissues

 
Electronics

• Set heat or air conditioning
• Turn on or off lights, or set timers for them
• If desired, turn off or disconnect:

• Alarms 
• Cellphones and phones
• Computers
• Microwave detectors
• Other electronics

 
Eruv
Check that the eruv (if any) is good

The International Dateline (IDL), which is 180 degrees away from Greenwich, England, crosses the Pacific ocean from north to south and divides a region of safek/doubt as to which day is Shabbat. This region's eastern boundary is a line 180 degrees east of Jerusalem, which lies between Hawaii and the US mainland; the western boundary is east of Shanghai. All countries in this region of IDL safek/doubt are island countries.
 
In a region of doubt, such as Tasmania, keep normal Shabbat (Shabbat d'rabanan) on local Saturday and keep Shabbat d'oraita on:

• West of mainland USA, but
• East of the IDL, and
• Not attached to the mainland.

• West of the IDL, but
• East of Shanghai, and
• Not attached to the mainland.

Note In all cases, you must still observe regular Shabbat on Friday night/Saturday.
Situation
You are in a place near the International Dateline (IDL) in which you are not sure which day of the week it is halachically: Shabbat or, if you are east or west of the IDL, Friday or Sunday.
What To Do
On the Friday or Sunday in question, there is no shvut (d'rabanan prohibitions, including muktza), so you may do all melacha d'rabanan WITHOUT a shinui. You may:

• Ask or tell a non-Jew to do anything, including a melacha d'rabanan or d'oraita.
• Ride in a cab or car driven by a non-Jew.

• Use electricity--except for heat or light—including turning on a fan or air conditioner (heat and light are forbidden by the Torah).
• Use the telephone. (Using a cellphone may be permissible--ask a rabbi).

• Carry from a private domain (reshut ha'yachid) to another private domain, even through a public domain (reshut ha'rabim); but you may not stop walking in the public domain and you may not put the object down in the public domain unless you use a shinui.
• There is no practical way to light candles, even using a shinui, but a non-Jew may light them for you and and you may say the blessing on the candles.
• Swim, surf, scuba dive, climb, and play all games that do not use melacha. You may not wring out clothes and if you are swimming or scuba diving, your swimsuit or wetsuit must be clean.
• Walk any distance (there is no techum Shabbat d'oraita).
• Kinyan. You may acquire items.

• Fly, including check in and getting on plane if:
  • The pilot is non-Jewish, and
  • You don't do any melacha d'oraita (including any writing) without a shinui.
• Use a computer if it automatically goes to sleep after less than 24 hours of not being used.
• Shower. However:
  • You may not use an “instant on” hot water system in which the water is heated as you use it; you may only use the hot water if it has a holding tank.
  • You may use only liquid soap; hard soap is forbidden.
• Ingest medicine (but you may not smear it on skin).
• Use some make up, such as rouge, mascara, eye shadow. You may not use lipstick.
• Open a refrigerator with light (and all other psik reisha d'la neicha lei).

• You may buy necessities on Friday or Sunday as long as:
  • The store owner is not Jewish (or if he/she is Jewish, does not write or print a receipt),
  • You do not write, and
  • There is no reshut ha'rabim.

You may also do melacha d'oraita if:

• You use a shinui (non-normal way of doing that action--this is forbidden d'rabanan on Shabbat but is allowed on the Friday or Sunday in question), OR
• Two or more people do the melacha together.

 
D'oraita, you may not:

• Cook food.

• Turn on lights (but you may turn them off).
• Carry from domains.
• Boneh – building any permanent structure.
• Write two or more letters of the alphabet.
• Drive--there is no practical way to drive using a shinui.
• Shave--there is no practical way to shave using a shinui.
• Use toothpaste (but you may use tooth-cleaning powder).
• Use skin cream--you may dab it on without smearing it.

However, you may do these following actions with a shinui on the Friday or Sunday in question, as follows:

• Cook food. You must put food in the cooking utensil first, then turn on the heat with shinui. You may turn off the heat even without a shinui.
• Turn on lights (such as with your elbow).
• Stop along the way when carrying from a private domain (reshut ha'yachid) to another private domain, even through a public domain (reshut ha'rabim). As a shinui, you may carry the object in your mouth (as long as it is not food), etc.

Note Carrying something in your pocket is NOT a shinui.

• Tear paper (such as putting toilet paper across knees and moving the knees apart).
• Write (such as with the opposite hand).

Flying East From Australia on Sunday If You Cross IDL from Friday into Saturday

Always say the prayer service based on the day and time where you are at the moment you are ready to pray.
 
Flying West
Situation
You fly west and take off before sunrise.
What To Do
If the sun will rise while you are flying, you may say shacharit from the time of alot ha'shachar on the ground below where you are when you begin to pray.
 
Situation
You fly west, taking off during the daytime.
What To Do
Say mincha whenever the sun has gone at least 30 minutes past the local midday where you are at that time.
 
Situation
You fly west into the night.
What To Do
Say ma'ariv. once it is night on the ground below you.
Note On a long west-bound flight, you might not have to say any prayer services, since you might still be covered by whatever prayer service you said before you took off.
 
Flying East
Situation
You cross the international dateline passing through the night and are now back in the day you already experienced.
What To Do
You ignore the fact that you said the prayer service on that day and say it again.
 
Situation
You fly from Australia on Tuesday, departing during the daytime. You will fly into the night of Monday and continue on back into Tuesday.
What To Do
You disregard the fact that you already said ma'ariv for Monday and you say ma'ariv again. If your flight continues until sunrise, you will also say shacharit for Tuesday again.
 
Situation
You fly from Australia on Tuesday morning and cross the IDL during the daytime of Tuesday and are now back into Monday.
What To Do
You do not say any prayer service until your flight crosses into night, whether that happens in flight or after you have landed. You will need to say mincha at some time during the day.
 
Situation
You fly east but you do not cross the international dateline.
What To Do
If you cross into the night, you will say ma'ariv as you normally would do. If you took off at night and cross into daytime, you will say shacharit.
Note When flying east from night into day, there is a very brief time period when you may say shema of the morning, since you may not say shema until alot ha'shachar and must say shema by the end of the third hour of the local day. When flying east, instead of having about 4 hours during which to say shema, you might only have two or so hours.
Note Regarding saying the shir shel yom (psalm for the day of the week), follow the local day.