The Flossie Approach to Loving Mondays

Use Sunday nights wisely. Get a head start on Monday morning by getting ready the evening before. I like to write out my to-do list on Sunday and schedule any meetings I need to have so that I have control of how my day is going to play out. I absolutely HATE Monday morning meetings. I sometimes schedule a planning session on Monday mornings. This does two things, blocks off my calendar so the over eager meeting organizers at the job don’t mess up my vibe and it gives me time to respond to anything I didn’t get to on Friday afternoon and get a head start on my to-do list.

Stay on a semi-regular sleep schedule on weekends. It’s easier to get up early on Monday if you go to bed and get up at about the same time every day. Sleeping an extra hour on Sunday is fine. Staying up all night watching movies and then rising at noon makes it difficult for your body to adjust.  I do it anyway because I’m a night owl. But, my favorite thing is to get up at my regular time, eat breakfast and run errands on the weekend knowing that I can come home and take a nap.

Make time to eat. You’ll have more energy if you eat a nutritious breakfast. Grab a protein shake or breakfast sandwich to stay on schedule and get the fuel you need. Mondays are perfect for reviving your commitment to your eating plan or have a healthy reset.

Get organized before you log off on Fridays. It’s amazing how much we can forget over the weekend. Write yourself a note on Friday highlighting the projects you need to tackle and the meetings and follow ups you need to make in the coming week. 

Give yourself something to look forward to. Make Monday special by sprinkling a little cinnamon in your coffee or wearing your favorite perfume. (Y’all do wear perfume at home don’t you? This is something I started in the panorama and now I don’t consider myself ready for the day if I haven’t spritzed myself with something fancy. If you wanna know about some of my faves, hit me up in the comments below.)

Schedule tasks for when you’re most efficient. Work with your own rhythms. If you’re an early bird, get cracking right away. If you know that you perform better after you’ve had some time to warm up, save the heavy thinking for later in the day.

Accommodate the schedules of others. Studies show that many of your colleagues and clients will be more responsive to communications sent during the middle of the week. Learn to expect delays and hold off on items that are less time sensitive.

Shift your focus. If you start feeling apprehensive about getting your day starting and returning to work, try to reframe the issue. I once worked with a woman that was incredibly confrontational and I dreaded my meetings with her each week. Like, a legit blood pressure raising, anxiety filled stress fest happened just thinking about our daily standups. Seriously, WTF?! I hate to say that it didn’t get better with her, but I learned to shift my perspective and prevent her attacks from affecting me.

Accentuate the positive. Remind yourself of what you like about your job and the people you work with – or the resources that come to you as a result of having this job. Because sometimes it IS just about the money, until you can choose something else.

Look forward to the weekend. Monday lasts for only 24 hours. Give yourself a boost by getting theater tickets or inviting friends over for next weekend.