Monday, 6/14/21: Talking about calming a crazy to-do list and the recent memoir I read
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: From my weekend, I am thankful that I spent time with co-workers, had a fun night with friends, and for my long walk in the glorious weather on Sunday.
TODAY: I am most excited to have space in my calendar to make headway on a work project.
INTENTION: I have friends coming in town this weekend (so excited!!), so my intention is to be really focused in the beginning of this week, so I can relax this weekend.
Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂
Meaningful Musings: A New Approach to To-Do Lists
I was recently listening to a podcast with Lisa Woodruff, founder and CEO of the company Organize 365, as the guest. Lisa gave great organizing tips and tricks throughout the episode, but one in particular really resonated with me.
Her idea is called “Sunday Basket System,” and Lisa created it to manage the influx of paper piles (bills, mail, etc.) that would accumulate around her every week. And while I personally don’t have a ton of paper piles to deal with, I related to the idea because I DO have “piles” of thoughts and to-dos swirling around in my head.
Let me know if a scenario like this sounds familiar to you too: it’s Monday morning and I sit down to work, vowing to be productive. I get into a groove and start hitting my stride, but then all the sudden, a thought pops into my head. I need to return those clothes that arrived this weekend.
Followed by another: I know their return policy is around 30-60 days, but I wonder if I have to return via the post office or UPS.
Since I’ll be able to find the answer quickly, I decide to break from what I’m doing. I log onto the store’s website and confirm my question, but 10 minutes later, I find myself a few pages deep browsing the new clothing arrivals.
Wait, what was I doing before this?
Has something similar happened to you? When I feel the most overwhelmed, it’s often because everything on my to-do list feels urgent and like it requires my immediate attention. It’s not true, but because I can’t think straight and sift through to prioritize, I feel stretched thin and like I don’t have time for what matters most. Not great! But when I heard Lisa’s idea, I thought it could help.
The crux of the idea is that you have a designated container (a “Sunday Basket”) where, throughout the week, you place paper items that do not require immediate attention. The items remain untouched until Sunday (or your preferred day) when you dedicate time to deal with them appropriately. The magic of this is that it helps you defer tasks that can wait and keeps record of them for later.
Interested to see if this idea could be useful for non-paper items, I designated a special notepad as my “basket” (the catch-all for all the thoughts) and when a thought popped into my head, I started quickly assessing with one question: “Can I deal with this later?” If the answer was yes, I added it to the list and moved on. I avoided getting sidetracked and avoided forgetting the thought for later! Win-win!
Now of course, this system doesn’t solve for still needing to actually do the tasks you’ve thought of, but after trying out this approach for the past two weeks, I’ve found I’m more likely to make progress on my to-do list in less time and with less energy expended. For me, this looks like designating Sunday afternoons as my time to deal with those deferred tasks. I light a candle, sit down with a cup of coffee, and get to work. With focus and momentum, I cross things off the list and if there’s something that can’t be handled during the work session, I’ll make a plan for when I can complete it. And for the to-dos that don’t feel like a priority or urgent, I’ll defer again and start the list for next week.
I find having a designated day helpful, but it’s not a hard-and-fast rule. If an opportunity does present itself on a day other than Sunday, it’s also great that I have an updated to-do list ready to be referenced. But for me, there’s just something about having that designated day and knowing when I’ll tackle my to-do list that makes me less likely to feel like I should be cramming tasks haphazardly into any free moment. The result is I’m more focused on work when I’m working. I’m more focused on my friends when we’re connecting. And I’m more focused on resting when I’m doing something relaxing.
So, if you find yourself struggling to get focused or feeling overwhelmed on this Monday morning, maybe give this approach a try this week. The next time a task pops in your head, ask yourself if it can wait, and then make a plan to tackle it later. Hopefully, it will help you feel a bit more capable, centered and intentional, just like it has for me.
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 listening to Gabrielle Union’s memoir and wow, I thought it was great. After listening to this podcast interview with Gabrielle (also loved this two-part series with her, her husband and Oprah), I put my name on the library waitlist for the audiobook version of her memoir. I finished listening last week and it’s definitely the kind of book you keep thinking about for days after. Her memoir, We’re Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True, is a collection of essays from Gabrielle about topics such as growing up as a Black girl in an almost all-white town, racism, relationships, sexual abuse and career aspirations. She was so vulnerable and honest, and I learned a lot from her telling her story. So excited to see that she is coming out with a follow-up book this September!
- I’m excited for this book all about mornings to come out in September! Women’s Health is one of the two print magazines I subscribe to and in addition to reading their monthly print content, I also like following their editor-in-chief, Liz Plosser, on Instagram in real-time for running tips, cute family pics, and encouragement to get moving in the morning. Her upcoming book is all about creating the best morning routine for you and I can’t wait to dig into it when it comes out in September!
- Have you seen the new Gossip Girl reboot trailer? The original Gossip Girl TV show holds a special place in my heart. I watched the whole series during my first semester of college. It was the summer before my freshman year, and my roommates and I would lay around on Sundays and watch episode after episode after episode (I remember feeling like we had SO much freedom). I think it was the first show I ever “binge watched.” I can’t wait for the reboot next month and thought the trailer looked great!
- Have any ways to make home decorating/“home-care” lighter and brighter? All month I’ll be collecting anonymous tips, tricks or favorite resources on home maintenance/decorating/management to be shared in the newsletter on the last Monday in June. If you are so inclined to share, feel free to submit anonymously here. Can’t wait to hear from you!
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
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