5 Ways To Tackle A Monday And Start Your Week Off Great!

5 Ways To Tackle A Monday And Start Your Week Off Great!

APPLE PODCAST // SPOTIFY // STITCHER

We all have our favorite day of the week. The day that is by far the absolute best. The day where you are less resistant to getting up and getting moving compared to the other days. The day where you naturally wear your more favorite outfit, do your more favorite things! The day where you are in a better mood, where your spirits are higher. For me, on my most favorite day of the week, which is most definitely a Monday, I always seem to be a little happier, more hopeful, and always more productive! 

Your Favorite Weekday Of The Week 

Now this most favorite day of the week is separate from the weekend. Separate from a Friday. I am talking about a weekday. Either a Monday, or a Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday. Your favorite week DAY – your favorite day of the week despite the usual schedule of work, school, shuffling kids around, moving all the day to day parts that keep the engine of your home, your family, and your mind operating in full force. Which day of the week is your most favorite? For me – my most favorite day of the week is most definitely Monday. 

Yes, I am one of those people whose favorite day of the week is a Monday. Gosh, I love them! There is something about a Monday that just makes my heart so happy! And while I know I am one of the few people who would consider Monday as their most favorite day of the week, I thought it would be a lovely idea to share with you strategies for tackling a Monday and starting your week off great!

The Potential Of A Monday 

I feel like there is SO much potential to be had on a Monday, yet we often fall short from capitalizing on it because we either are consumed with playing catch-up from the weekend or trying to adjust to the beginning of a new work week. Therefore, my hope and intention is for these specific strategies to provide you with a source of instruction and clarity on how you can take Mondays and use them to not only find more contentment in your life, but also peace, and a whole lot more joy! 

Oh and I have the BEST freebie for you! This one is SO good and something I had so much fun creating and something I believe you will absolutely LOVE! Especially if you are one who loves all things planning and writing things down! I have for you a FREE Monday to-do list! 

Okay are you ready to dive on in? Here are 5 Ways to Tackle a Monday and start your week off on a great start!

5 WAYS TO TACKLE A MONDAY AND START YOUR WEEK OFF ON A GREAT START!

1. End the work week in strong standing.  

The first way to tackle a Monday and ensure your week starts off great actually is something to do BEFORE your weekend even starts. This is something you are going to do on Fridays before you close up your work for the day – you want to be sure you end the work week in strong standing. You want to do your Monday self a favor starting as early as Friday by setting the intention of the week. Spend time on your Friday resetting your workspace before you leave so that you can walk into a clean, refreshed space Monday when your workday begins. 

What does this look like? 

Leave your work desk clean and clear Friday before going into the weekend. Go ahead and wash the coffee out of your work mug so that it is all clean and ready for Monday’s mid-morning fuel up. Do you need to have anything made before Monday? Do you need to run copies, have a board set up, print meeting notes. Go through a quick list in your head (or on paper) of what is taking place on your workday for Monday and go ahead and do what is easy, but necessary to prep for your day. That way you can find freedom in leaving your office Friday and into the weekend free of stress and worry, and walk back in Monday morning with confidence. 

Write a little note to yourself on Friday for your Monday. Take a sticky note and pop some encouragement on there. Write some words of intention on your desk, your calendar, your planner, really wherever you can fully see it and be reminded of and encouraged first thing Monday morning. 

Don’t have an office? Don’t have specific work like tasks that you can close up for the weekend or set aside in preparations for Monday? Well, what are things that you utilize pretty consistently through the week. Are you handling kids’ bags and lunchboxes, a diaper bag, your book bag, your planner and notebook? Whatever it is that you find yourself using frequently during the week, take a few moments on Friday before your weekend begins, well ahead of your Monday, tidying things up, making the initial prep work for Monday and allowing  yourself to step into your weekend, and then your new week in confidence. 

2. Carve out time on your Sunday to plan ahead for your week. 

Number 2 – this is something else necessary to do over the weekend BEFORE your Monday even starts. Carve out time on your Sunday to plan ahead for your week. Now in this instance, I am currently doing this well past daytime on Sunday night, but the idea here is to spend some time much earlier in your day to plan ahead for your week. The trick is to do this in a way that isn’t stressful. In a way that doesn’t seem daunting.

Grab your planner, or your computer, or phone (Whatever you use to keep your life together – sit somewhere that will allow you to focus. If it’s a gorgeous day, even better to do this outside. Listen to some vibe music, pour yourself a refreshing beverage, breathe in a few deep breaths of fresh air and walk through your week. Add the most important things in your planner. Any meetings, appointments, all the must-dos. Write them ALL down. Jot down some goals you may have, establish the few things you want to accomplish.

A Really Valuable Piece of Advice

A really valuable piece of advice – and this is something I am saying directly to myself, and maybe it also can be of value to you – but when you are planning ahead and looking at your week – be easy on yourself. Don’t set yourself up for failure by scheduling in and assigning your own very list of to-dos to be too much. Am I the only one that has a tendency to schedule things on her daily to-do list that are completely impossible to accomplish simply because there are not enough hours in the day?

Don’t set yourself up for failure. Set yourself up for success! Start small and plan ahead with a short list of the very important things you hope to accomplish. You can then create a separate list that you title something like (maybe or if i get to it or ideal items or something like that!) But don’t attach the pressure of getting it all down right away. 

What else can you plan ahead? 

Jot down the meal schedule for the week so you know ahead of time what the dinner plan is. Have the kitchen ready for the morning before you go to your room for bedtime. 

Plan out your outfit for the day (or even better for the week!) so you have one less thing to focus on each day. Before you completely wind-down for bed, prioritize the must-dos for Monday the night before! Write down your top three list of things to do for the day and then add in a little bit of encouragement next to your top three list as a reminder that you can absolutely do this! 

3. Spend Your Monday Morning With Intention. 

Wake up thirty minutes earlier than usual on Monday to be sure you are starting your week off on the best possible foot. Use this time to set your intention for the week and your pacing. Is this week going to be full of chaos and un-together-ness or is it going to be calm, cool, and in order. 

Do you feel your best version of yourself when you exercise first thing in the morning? Then be sure to not miss a Monday and make it a priority to work out Monday morning. Make your bed first thing Monday morning. Do an easy and quick tidy before you leave your room after you finish getting ready as a way to define the expectation for refreshed space as you start your week. 

Focus In.

Think about the very thing that you need to thrive. The very thing that you need to fill you up whole. Focus on what it is that you need that can completely empower your soul and allow you to believe in the things you need to be successful in your day. Whatever that is – start there. Whatever it is, carve out specific time to do that very thing first thing on Monday morning. 

I know for most of us this sounds like a great idea, we love it in fact, but the actuality of it happening in real time seems too far-fetched. It requires us to actually DO something and not just say we are. So to that, I say this. You owe it to yourself. You owe it to your passions. You owe it to your dreams. Give yourself the extra few minutes that you deserve to start your Monday off the right way so that you can live your day in your complete potential! 

4. Make your first Monday work session productive. 

Have a productive work session Monday morning. Set the intention of the week with the focus and integrity of moving through your to-do list and tasks and getting things done. Monday morning is an incredible time to truly define the entire tone of the week. Use your first major work session of a Monday and of a week to prioritize the most important things and to get things done. What is the absolute most pressing thing you need to do? What action on your workload requires the most brain power, the most thought, the most attention to detail? Knock that out first. 

If you abide by this entire list in its entirety and incorporate these strategies to your week to create a Monday worthwhile of capability and strength then you will already be set up for success to have your first work session to be one of great stride. 

Clear Priorities

Do you have a meeting first thing Monday morning? Well utilize the above strategies to prioritize what you need done and establish your clear plan so you can truly focus in the meeting without half-heartedly focusing because you are so concerned with trying to figure out all the things that you need to do. 

Do what needs to be done to be sure that your first major work session of the week can be one that feels encouraging and empowering to set the wheels in motion and the tone for your week. Remember – you absolutely got this! 

5. Implement a set of Monday favorites that you can turn to for joy throughout your day. 

In order to really tackle a Monday you got to reward yourself and celebrate along the way. 

Plan an amazing dinner for Monday night. Set aside your favorite creamer for your morning coffee or plan on going to your favorite coffee shop on the way to work? Have an amazing lunch that you can during the day – something that can get you excited. Have a sweet tooth? Sneak a piece of dark chocolate into your work bag and then forget about it until a later part of your day when you remember and can instantly turn your sleepy afternoon around. Specifically incorporate some of your favorite things into your day that allow you to be kid excited and start your week off on the right step.

Bonus: #6 – Purposeful Commute

I have one bonus for you. This one is one of my favorite tricks for tackling a Monday and starting my week off strong. Bonus #6 is all about planning and creating a purposeful commute! (of course this is for those who have a commute!) But, even if you don’t you can use this to plan out a purposeful morning time or purposeful walk, etc. Or really any time in your morning before your official day gets started where you can pour something into yourself in a way that will bring you either encouragement, motivation or joy.

Intentional Commute

Be intentional with how you spend your morning commute and fill it with purpose and intention. Do you like to drive (or ride) in silence to process thoughts for the upcoming day and week ahead? Or maybe meditation? Or prayer? Or self-reflection. Or use time for affirmations. Or listen to that specific playlist that you need to listen to in order to get your mind and spirit in the right place for the day and week. Or do you have that favorite podcast you listen to every Monday morning because you know it will for sure start your week off right.

For me – that’s my go-to Monday morning commute tradition. Every single Monday morning I listen to the latest Drama Queens episode with the girls from One Tree Hill as they re-watch the series and it is always SO good and fills my heart with just what I need to start the week. I get legit excited when I get to my car on Monday AM because I know my drive in to work is going to be SO fun. And that right there is the power of a powerful and purposeful morning commute with the ability to truly set your mind in the right space before the day truly has begun. There you have it – 5, well actually 6 ways to tackle a Monday and start your week off great! 

The most important thing. 

Here is the thing though – The most important thing is this – throughout this entire list of ways to tackle a Monday and to start your week off great is the expectation that throughout any challenge and tempting battle we are to rise. And while in theory it’s great. In theory it is incredible to think that in every single struggle and temptation, in every single moment of hard that we are strong enough to rise above – the reality is we are not. The reality is that we will fail. The reality is that no matter how many times we try to do better, to work harder, to try again next time, there will always be an instance where we don’t. Where we feel the defeat.

And the most important thing is to abide in grace. Grace for yourself. Grace for your life. To know that when you don’t have it all together that it is okay. That there will be days and weeks where you are racing down the express lane to get to where you need to go, to still show up five minutes late, to still forget your hot coffee on the kitchen counter, to still feel like a failure and to soak in the feeling of hopelessness. And that is okay.

It Is Okay!

It is okay to feel our moments of weakness. It is okay to feel that defeat. But the most important thing – is for when we are in that moment, sitting in that place – that we give ourselves grace. Freely and generously. Grace to know that it is okay. To know that we don’t have to have it all together at all times. That our life can be chaotic and can be messy. While this list of 5 ways to tackle a Monday to start your week off great is a fantastic starting point, a fantastic goal to have, a plan to work towards, and lean on – the plan is completely worthless if we can’t offer grace to ourselves freely. Grace to know that we are okay. That we are beautiful, in the mess that we are. And that – that, is completely, okay! 

Your Best Week!

While, it’s great to start implementing these strategies a little by little, week after week to work towards the goal of having a better Monday and working towards a better start to the week – working towards ending your workweek in a strong standing, working towards carving out time on your Sunday to plan the week ahead, to spend time during your Monday morning with intention, to set aside your first work session Monday for complete productivity, to embrace your list of favorite things and to commit to a purposeful commute, while all of these things are great and wonderful, they mean nothing if you can’t give yourself grace for the moments when things fall a little short.

Friend – you are capable of truly living your best life every single day and that best life comes from a life lived well in grace, full of freedom. Thank you so much for hanging out with me on another episode of The Best Day podcast and I can’t wait to do this again next week on another episode where we dive on in to the 5 ways to FINALLY get ahead of your to-do list. Until then friends, have the BEST day!