Smile, It’s Monday!
Many people despise Monday. After the weekend, getting up early to only begrudgingly drag yourself out of bed, grasping for your coffee can turn Monday morning into something dreadful.
But how we choose to look at Monday is a choice, isn’t it? Sure, your time is no longer your time and you have to go to work; it’s called being an adult, but how can you reframe how you see Monday? How can Monday become MonYAY and something that tastes just a little sweeter? It boils down to one thing, your mindset.
For me I like to look at Monday’s as an opportunity to be reborn. Monday is a rebirth, a reset; allowing me to take an inventory of what I need to get done. As a matter of fact, I start this process on Sunday afternoon. I thought I would share some of my process with you in effort to help you take on Monday and your week:
1. Workout Dates with Yourself: I meticulously plan all of my workouts—where they will be, with whom, and what body part I am focusing on for each workout. I find this ensures I hold myself accountable by not letting my workouts get away from me when ‘something better comes along’. I schedule my workouts because time with my physical-self is of the utmost importance. When things come up, I decline them to protect my time getting to yoga, lifting weights, or doing cardio.
2. Color Coding is KEY: I color code like things, such as my fitness classes I teach are a different color than the classes I take. Color coding has been scientifically proven to be a “very effective performance factor”, if not overdone. So highlight your week’s priorities, group similar events and/or tasks, or simply draw attention to the most important things so that these things stand out in contrast to other notes in your planners.
3. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize! What didn’t I get to or address last week, that must be in my coming week? Also, I make sure to look ahead a few weeks out to see if there are things I need to start planning for; such as tasks, deadlines, and so on that will need my attention. Then, I budget and allocate time to these tasks and relish putting a check mark next to them when they are finished.
4. Touch Base with Friends: While laying out my week, if I have made tentative plans with friends, I follow up. This potentially frees up my schedule to insert other things or just take sometime for myself.
5. Time for You: While mapping out my week, I make sure to examine how I am spending my time and with whom. Am I spending what little free time I have doing things that light my heart on fire and with people who inspire me? Like everyone else, my time is precious. It took me many years to finally say no to things and people that required me going somewhere or doing something I didn’t really want to do. As a result of setting these boundaries for myself, my time is filled with rich activities that fill my soul and people who fill my heart.
Take aways:
Monday is not just something horrible that is happening to you, it’s happening FOR you. Start retraining your brain to view Monday as an opportunity to get major shit done and be a boss. Break down your week by scheduling your workouts, color coding, prioritizing, solidifying plans with friends, and ensuring there’s ample time for pursuits of the heart.
