As I write this, I am learning to tolerate Monday’s. Unfortunately, for most of my life Monday’s always made me feel miserable. Even late Sunday night I would start to get anxious as Monday began to creep closer. So, you’re probably wondering what changed? Well, I can’t say that it’s been one moment or habit in particular. However, what I have discovered is that by doing at least a few of the points below, I find myself feeling much more grounded and ready to start the week.
5 Ways to Improve Your Monday’s:
1. Use Sunday afternoon or evening to plan for the week:
Even if this is only 10-30 minutes, this allows me to feel so much better about the week ahead. For me, this looks like doing some meal prep so that I know exactly what we are having for dinner from Monday-Saturday.
Also, I usually plan to cook my most time intensive meal of the week on Sunday’s. With this, it also helps to make a large enough portion that you can eat it again a second or third time during the week, cutting down on your cooking time on nights where you might come home tired and just ready to relax. I don’t know about you..but on busy weeknights, cooking is typically the LAST thing that I want to be doing.
Then, I also look over my list of tasks for the week. I might even do an entire post on what my Sunday planning looks like because I know this makes a huge difference in my week ahead.
Related Post: How to Plan for the Week Ahead
Sunday’s are usually a more relaxed day, so it’s likely that by Sunday afternoon or evening, you’ll likely have a little extra time for planning or preparation.
2. Have Something to Look Forward To
I always make sure that I have at least one activity or meal that I love on Monday. Maybe it’s getting a coffee from Starbucks rather than brewing your own or possibly making Monday your date night.
It’s not always easy to get out of bed Monday morning (at least for me) so knowing that you have at least one thing to look forward to makes a world of difference.
3. Morning Routine
Always start the day with a morning routine, especially on Monday. This will help you to feel motivated and accomplished even before you’ve officially started the day. For example, some of my favorite morning routine activities include: gratitude, meditation, journaling, and savoring a cup of coffee.
If you’re intimidated by the idea of “Morning Routines” don’t be. While some people have long 2 hour long routines, you don’t need to. Even if it’s only 5 or 15 minutes, just having 1-2 activities that leave you feeling refreshed first thing in the morning can make a world of difference.
Related Post: My Miracle Morning Routine
4. Time Block at least 1 High Quality Work Activity
If we’re not careful, Monday’s can often be a blur of hopping around from task to task without getting much done. If you set aside 30 minutes- 1 hour each Monday morning, then at least you can end the day knowing that you did something other than just checking email.
I also find that turning my phone off or on airplane mode is helpful too. Not for the whole day, but at least for your 30 minutes to 1 hour of dedicated work time. You’ll probably find that afterwards you feel more productive than you would have imagined.
Starting Monday’s with a productive morning can be a game changer in terms of setting a positive tone for the entire week!
5. Schedule in a Walk or Time Outside
Being outside ALWAYS improves my mood. Try a 5 minute walk around the block on your lunch hour. Or, maybe a 10-15 minutes during the day. Regardless, make sure to set aside time to be outside.
I do this myself and it’s typically one of the highlights of the whole day. I LOVE spending time outside and it also really seems to boost my productivity once I get back to work.
Bonus points if you can do this without your phone!
To Sum Up:
Maybe it’s not realistic to start all of these at once. That’s ok. Try to pick one and see how it goes this week. Do you have any other tips or advice for improving your Monday’s? Let me know on Instagram @betsyramserjaime
P.S. If you want to save this post for later, make sure to click the images below! I love referring back to these tips every few months.
5 Ways To Improve Your Monday’s
