Monday, 8/22/22: Talking about making decisions in advance and daily rituals

Happy Monday!

It’s a new week, which means it’s time for your next Monday motivation newsletter.

Read on below for some steps to a happier Monday, a short story and a roundup of positive thoughts to get your week started.

Three Steps to a Happier Monday

Each newsletter starts with three prompts to inspire gratitude and simple intention setting. Take a moment and jot down answers to these three questions. To give an example, I share my answers below.  

Step 1: What are three things I appreciated from the weekend? 

Step 2: What is one thing I can be excited about today?

Step 3: What is my intention for this week? 

GRATITUDE: I’m thankful for my long walk yesterday, a productive Saturday morning and fun times with friends.

TODAY: Today I’m most excited to make some progress on a project at work (have minimal meetings today, so it’s a great day to do so!)

INTENTION: My intention this week is to plan for September. 

Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂

Meaningful Musings: Making Decisions in Advance of Monday 

Even though I am a fan of Mondays, I’ll also be the first to admit that the day has A LOT working against it.

We’re tired from the weekend. Our schedule is out of whack. We’re cursing our Friday optimistic selves (Friday me: I’ll just do that task Monday! Monday me: Ughhhh.). The weekend feels so. far. away.

BUT I can’t deny my love of the promise Monday brings. I love turning the page in my planner and starting fresh with the weekly stretching out in front of us. The possibilities!  

It’s a balance though. Like most things, there’s some good, some bad about Mondays. And since bad has a tendency to overpower good in our minds, I’m always on the lookout for some easy tips to make Mondays a little bit more enjoyable. I have one that I’m especially excited to share with you today because I think it’s perfect for this time of year.

Even though I haven’t followed an academic calendar for years now (7!), I still get influenced by that back-to-school energy. I just love it! (Case in point: I’ve written about this topic for the past two years – 2021 & 2020 – lol.)

If you’ve been wanting to make a change to your routine or weekly rhythm, harnessing the “fresh start feeling” of back-to-school season (even if you aren’t in school!) may be just the motivation you need to make the change in a more enjoyable way.

One suggestion for a change that will improve your Mondays: the idea of “deciding once.”

This idea comes from author Kenda Adachi in her book, The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done.

I read the book a while ago and remember thinking the idea was brilliant (“genius” if you will).

In an effort to make her Mondays more enjoyable, Kendra decided to start making one-time decisions “about what doesn’t matter, to have brain space for what does.” She started small, with selecting a “Monday uniform” (tailored appropriately for seasons of course) to wear every Monday. No more deciding what to wear on Monday morning. It was a fixed decision and something she didn’t have to think about as she went through her day. In seasons of life that were busier/crazier, she would scale up the list accordingly, including sometimes deciding in advance what time she would wake up on Mondays, what she would do first on Mondays and what her family would eat for dinner. 

All the fixed decisions gave her a beautiful jump for start the day… and therefore the week. Instead of being distracted by all the Monday decisions needed, deciding once gave her time to engage in what matters and make her Monday more enjoyable.

I’ve been trying out this idea in August and I have to tell you – I’m loving it.

When I mapped out my plans for August a few weeks ago, I knew I wanted to end the month feeling prepared for what’s to come (lots of exciting things planned for the coming months!). I also realized that besides one quick weekend trip, I wasn’t traveling or hosting any visitors in August, which would provide some stability and consistency to my routine. I could commit to doing a lot of the same things every Monday because every Monday (and, importantly, Sunday night) in August would look relatively the same.

So, I decided I wanted to use my Monday morning time before work to take care of personal to-dos and write, in turn hopefully freeing up after-work & weekend time to just relax. I made time for this personal work session by deciding my only workout on Mondays would be to run a mile (~10 min).

On the first Monday in August I also ended up having to go into the office. Monday is not my typical in-office day, but I quickly realized I actually loved being in the office Monday. It jived really well with my weekly productivity rhythm and I got through a massive amount of work. It was great.  

Since then, my Monday mornings this month have entailed of me waking up at the same time and doing the same thing (writing & personal to-dos). Then, I run one mile and commute into the office to work. I’ve even ordered the same salad for lunch each Monday. All of the fixed decision are tailored to what I need/have capacity for with what’s going on this month, but I’m finding that the fixed decisions for these smaller things are giving me space and energy to make progress on bigger things… and importantly enjoy doing so. 

While this same set of activities might not be feasible on Mondays moving forward (because of travel & other circumstances), the experience does make me want to think about what decisions I can still make in advance.

It’s not necessarily about the specific actions, but rather, it’s the idea of taking something that could be stressful (Mondays) and making one fixed decision that will make things easier and more enjoyable. 

So, let me ask you – what’s one thing that’s stressing you out or bothering you this Monday and what’s one fixed decision you could make to make things easier and more enjoyable? 

To better Monday’s!  

On My Monday Radar

Sometimes we just aren’t ready to jump into our Monday to-do list right away. In case you want some content to procrastinate with, here is a roundup of a few positive things on my radar:  

• I finished this book last week and just loved it! I feel like I’ve had such a great streak of books I’ve read this summer. Really impressed with the titles released this season! (looking at you Every Summer After, Hotel Nantucket and now this one!). If you are looking for a can’t-put-down book, consider Made to Be by Emily Giffin. It’s loosely inspired by JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette (although in the book they are “Joe Kingsley” and “Cate Cooper”). The book is written from alternating narratives of Joe and Cate, following them from childhood to a chance encounter when they meet and fall in love… just really fun to read.
• What are your daily rituals? Wanting to seize that September fresh-start feeling in some way? How about considering what you want your daily rituals to be? Always love reading about others’ routines and rituals, so love this post (+ the comments section!).
• Column: How to Say No to Busywork and Supercharge Your Career. I really like Rachel Feintzeig’s column in the WSJ and enjoyed reading this one. It was essentially about figuring out what professional projects matter most, and ditching others that don’t help you get ahead. Good food for thought if you are looking for new work goals!
• Two week program to get off screens and ready for school. Technically this article is aimed at parents who are worried about getting kids off the screens and ready for a new school year. But I can’t deny that I found the steps outlined helpful, too! Always looking to be a bit more mindful about my digital life.

That’s all for today! I hope you found something in today’s newsletter that sparked motivation, made you smile or inspired a positive Monday thought. Don’t underestimate the power of starting small… a fulfilling week starts with just one fulfilling day. You’ve got this! 

Let’s make it a great Monday!
Megan