Not everyone looks forward to Monday’s. Some of us can just get up and go, and others, well, can’t. If you are one of the latter and you get a case of the Monday blues, there are a few rituals you can do to help you get your week started right. They take a little extra effort at first, but once you form these great habits, you will find they are easy to follow and offer a tremendous benefit to your sanity.
Plan your week on Sunday.
If you wait until Monday morning to plan and schedule your week, it will not take long before you find yourself engulfed in daily business “fires” and adding tasks and meetings before you even finish your planning. Instead, consider planning your week on Sunday evening, when it is quiet and you have the time and space to concentrate. You will sleep better knowing the task is done and you can devote more time to a morning routine that eases you into the week.
Create a morning routine.
There is plenty of evidence that shows that getting out of bed a few minutes early, rather than snoozing your way through your morning, has tremendous benefits to your mental and physical wellness. If you have a tough time in the mornings, try getting up and taking a quick and brisk walk around your block, which will get your blood flowing and tell your body and mind that it is time to wake.
Purge that email.
Your email box can be incredibly intimidating on Monday morning, filled with unread emails from the weekend and the previous week, all of which will immediately make you feel like you’re behind. Instead of reading every old email, delete them. Start with newsletters–they are old news anyway–and then find the confidence to purge any email that was not important enough to answer immediately in the first place.
Take one new personal risk.
There is a great deal of benefit to writing out your goals. I like to spend five minutes each day to review my ongoing goals and priorities. On Mondays, however, I make it a point to set one new and aggressive personal goal for the week. The point is to provide you motivation during your busy week to pursue an interest that you enjoy outside of work.
Make an “appreciation list.”
In addition to making out that extensive weekly to-do list, also take a minute to write down at least five things for which you are grateful. Not to create more work, but to reflect on the things that matter. More than likely, they will be the same from week to week, but doing so will put life in perspective and the positive emotions you create could affect your happiness, optimism, and self-esteem.
Pay it forward with kindness.
Keep in mind that you are sharing this Monday with everyone on earth, so to help relieve the stress of the beginning of the week, consider an unselfish act of kindness during your morning, such as a compliment to a complete stranger or leaving a co-worker a kind note. It will make both of your days a little better.
Try these for one month, and see if you don’t start appreciating that beautiful beginning of the work week we call Monday!
Make it a great day!