Monday, 3/10/25: Talking about a day in the life

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 and some 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: From my weekend, I am thankful for time with Matt’s family,  sunny weather!! and a great night sleep Saturday. 

TODAY: I’m most excited to wear my spring jacket today (yay that it’s warm enough)!!

INTENTION: My intention this week is to focus on abundance.

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

Meaningful Musings: A Monday in the Life 

I’ve always loved a “day in a life” or “24 hours with…” series. Whether reading them in magazines or on blogs, listening on podcasts or watching on Tik Tok, I love seeing the ins and outs of everyday lives and often walk away with a tip or new idea to incorporate into mine.

It’s also a great way to document ordinary things that will be fascinating years from now. For a while, I’ve had an idea to document a Monday, hour by hour, once or twice a year to record and notice the changes in everyday habits and routines. I’ve put it off for one reason or another, but I had the realization the other week that I really wished I could remember what a day in the life looked like for me a few years ago. It would be so fun to reminisce and reflect back on. 

So, with that as my motivation, I was mindful of what I did last Monday and when. I don’t know if any of the below is interesting to anyone else except me, but I already can’t wait to look back on this a year or so from now and do another one! 
 
A Monday in the Life: March 3, 2025
4:50 AM: My Hatch alarm goes off and I get out of bed. I find it easier to wake up early in the beginning of the week. I’m more likely to hit snooze as the week goes on. So, I love to take advantage of that tendency and get up very early on Monday! Having quiet time by myself is my favorite way to welcome a new week. I make myself a cup of coffee and cozy into my favorite armchair to catch up on entries in my line-a-day journal and read (right now, I’m reading The Seven Year Slip).

6:00 AM: Say good morning to Matt and get a sleepy good morning hug (my favorite!) and then get changed for a quick workout. Today, I’m doing a 30-minute Sculpt Society video. Sculpt Society is the at-home workout I’ve been able to be consistent with – there’s so much variety, it’s not boring and it’s challenging! In the winter – when it’s too cold to run outside or the motivation to walk to a workout class is low – this workout is my saving grace.  

6:40 AM: Quickly get ready for work. I washed and dried my hair Sunday night, so the getting ready process is quite easy today. Quick shower, skincare, make the bed while skincare soaks in, pick out outfit, makeup, and we’re done. I’ve been loving listening to this playlist while I get ready. 

7:10 AM: Commute to the office. I know have some unpopular opinions about Monday, and one of them is that Monday is actually my favorite day to go into the office. After being around my apartment all weekend, it feels great to change up the scenery. Plus, I feel most productive and ready to work on Mondays. I think, for me, it must be something to do with coming off the weekend with renewed focus as throughout the rest of the week, I can feel my capacity naturally tapering off. It’s an interesting thing to consider for yourself as it really is unique to you and your tendencies. For example, I know Matt sees Monday as more of a ramp-up and then feels his most productive on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The great thing is that once you’ve pinpointed it for yourself, you can consider if there are any tweaks you can make. For example, when I can, I try to go into the office on Monday,  get there early and protect the morning for work (vs. meetings) because I’ve found it’s the best time/ environment to make headway on work that requires a lot of thinking. Alternatively, I love working from home on Fridays and trying to save some of my more administrative tasks for when my energy is lower.

Today was fun because Matt was actually going into the office too because he had to pick up a new laptop! So, we got to ride the “L” together.

7:35 AM: Arrive at the office and settle in. My first meeting isn’t until 10, so I get to do some deep focus work.

10 AM – 12 PM: Attend various meetings.

12 PM: Lunch time! Run downstairs to my office building’s cafeteria and pick up Just Salad for lunch (another reason I love coming in the office on Mondays. My Monday treat = eating lunch out). 

12:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Attend more meetings.

3 PM: Do a triage of emails and Teams chats and cross a few more things off. Check my calendar for tomorrow and make a corresponding to-do list.

4:15 PM: Do a final check of email for anything urgent and then pack up and head back to the L. Love when I can get in early and leave early to beat the rush hour.

4:45 PM: Get home, unpack from the day and catch up with Matt. It’s nice outside, so Matt and I walk over to Nordstrom Rack, where my new Hokas (I got the color White/White) are ready for pickup. March 3 is also Pulaski Day in Chicago, so Matt is trying to track down some Packzi, which are delicious Polish pastries. Nordstrom Rack is right by Whole Foods, so we check their bakery. No Packzi, but obviously after looking at all the desserts we can’t resist picking something up. We realize it’s our two-month wedding anniversary so we decide on each getting an individual slice of cake!  

5:40 PM: We get home, and I start on dinner and check my work email.

6:00 PM: Eat dinner (we always do salmon & broccoli on Monday!), enjoy our dessert and watch the latest episode of White Lotus.

7:15 PM: Matt cleans up the kitchen and I click around on my laptop for a bit. This is the flipside of the early morning wakeup… I’m already getting tired and ready for bed!

7:45 PM: I wash my face, brush my teeth and put on pajamas.

8:00 PM: Say goodnight to Matt and get in bed to read my book before going to sleep.  

And that’s it!

That was so fun to write because it made me realize some unique things about this season of life: the quality time with Matt woven throughout the day, the ease of walking to do my errands in my neighborhood, and seeking out flexibility with how I approach work. Of course, every Monday isn’t like what I outlined above (for example, today I’m at a workshop all day instead of doing deep work in the office), but it does make me appreciate some new things about my day-to-day life.

If this intrigued you, give it a try! Record your day today – or another day this week – and see if anything surprises you. You may find something new to appreciate or something you want to tweak. Regardless, it will be fun to look back on what you recorded a few months from now. 

Hope you have a great week!

Picture of the Week

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