Let’s Roll
That’s the way I would like to feel (let’s roll) on Mondays, but I am not always afforded the opportunity to get to that point. Mondays can come in like a lion or like a lamb. Most commonly it is like a lion.
The trick in dealing with Mondays is in how you frame them. You can either look at the day like it is jam packed with meetings, emails, and things to do, or you can look at it like you knock out some really important items from the very get go. I would like to say I frame Mondays correctly, but that would not be 100% honest. As I have noted in the title of my blog, I am ambitiously lazy, therefore, intense focus can drive me crazy.
I am capable of focus when it is required, but I love to float around from person to person and from idea to idea. That’s where I’m really in my element.
So here is a quick list of what you can do to tackle Mondays. You are going to have to deal with them weekly, so you might as well have a plan.
Tackling Mondays:
- Get organized. Start the day with a good “things to do” list. I call them TTD and file them in EverNote under “TTD – Today’s Date”
- Fight the biggest monster first. I like to go head first into the day. Take out the highest priority first. It makes you feel better and you can get past trying to avoid it all day. This being said, a secondary approach if there isn’t a “biggest monster” is to knock out the low hanging fruit. It’s just that the low hanging fruit is quite frequently just another form of masked procrastination.
- Nail all the key meetings. Just get them over with for the week.
- Have a good lunch. This is a requirement every day of the week. You need the break.
- Finish strong. What else can you get done? Who else can you talk to? What can you do right now that will make the week a success all by itself? Do it.
So the basic idea here is to go head first into Mondays. They can actually be one of the most productive days of the week. Stay focused, finish strong, and don’t forget to reward yourself.
Now back to my whiteboard. 🙂
