Ahhh, another Monday — some people dread the sound of it, but a positive few reframe it as a fresh start full of new opportunities. So whether you’re jumping out of bed excited to kick off the week or are timidly tiptoeing into a jam-packed week full of meetings, we’re here with a few tips to help boost your Monday Motivation and make the most out of the week.
But first things first: You already deserve a gold star (🌟) for just being here reading this very blog post. By seeking out tips on how to improve your Monday afternoon motivation and productivity, you’re already way ahead of the curve. So welcome to the club, our fellow organizationally obsessed go-getter!
Anyway, let's get to it. Here are four tips to get a jumpstart on your week:
1. Chop Up the Frog 🐸
You've likely already heard the “swallow the frog” method to tackling your to-do list — meaning, tackling your most daunting, procrastination-worthy task that you ignored last week and have had in the back of your mind all weekend. To be fair, diving headfirst into our toughest task might feel like a tall order for a Monday morning, especially when you’re just easing back into things and still haven't had your second cup of coffee. So instead, why not take the frog to the butcher instead?
Chopping up your most daunting task into smaller, more manageable, bite size pieces not only makes it a lot less intimidating, but it’s a great way to prioritize and plan for what needs to get done. Plus, once you complete 20% of a large task, you’ll probably start to see your momentum snowball and maybe even want to keep going! Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Sometimes you just have to lay a few bricks — or eat a single frog — to get started!
If you’re really feeling stuck, an even more bite sized method to smash procrastination is the “Name The File” strategy. Tell yourself that the only thing you need to do today is to physically open, name and save the document that you’ll eventually be working in. It might sound crazy, but just taking this tiny step might help you get over the mental block that is stopping you from getting started. And tomorrow when you revisit this project on your to-do list, viola! It will already be ready and waiting for you to get started.
2. Accelerate, Delegate, or Eliminate 🙅🏼♀️
Unless you’re Super Woman (to be fair, you kind of are!), chances are that there’s a few things still left on your to-do list from last week. Tasks hanging over your head can be one of the greatest factors that contribute to the Sunday Scaries — but don’t fret, because we’ve got an easy solution:
Grab a notepad (or better yet, one of Tidy Plan’s cute notebooks!) and draw three columns — label them accelerate, delegate, eliminate. In the first category, list the things that you overlooked last week and need to get done, ASAP. This is your “accelerate” column, and we promise that you’ll feel a lot better once you’d identified your week’s top priorities — maybe there’s even fewer than you thought.
The second column, “delegate”, are important tasks, but things that you don’t necessarily need to do yourself. Ask a team member for help, consider outsourcing these tasks to assistants or freelancers and try to clear your plate as much as possible. Better yet, aim to identify repetitive, mundane tasks that need to get done but don’t really move the needle in the grand scheme of things — not only will this save you time today, but in weeks ahead, too! As they say “those who work alone go fast, but those who work together go far.”
Last is the most fun — this is your “eliminate” column. These are those pesky, time consuming tasks that may have seemed important at the time, but on second review, are no longer necessary. Try to eliminate a few items that are no longer a good use of time or that can be revisited in a few weeks. Consider also eliminating any tasks that have been on your to-do list for over a month — if it hasn’t been important enough to complete in 30 days, maybe it’s not necessary after all. You might just be surprised at how freeing it feels to physically write these tasks down and then immediately cross them off — mental burden released!
3. Do a Five Minute Monday Afternoon Review 📝
Have you ever looked at the calendar, realized that it’s already Thursday, and felt a wave of dread pass over you because the week seems to be slipping away? Yeah, same here. But don’t fret, because we’ve got another tip to help juice the most productivity out of your week:
Every Monday afternoon, carve out ten to fifteen minutes of your afternoon in order to prepare for the rest of week ahead. You’ll be set up for success early on, be able to identify what still needs to get done, and be able to review any upcoming meetings, appointments or plans for the week. There's nothing wrong with rewriting your to-do list several times a week — and there’s no better opportunity to do so than at the end of the first work day of the week.
Bonus Tip: If it happens to be towards the end of the month, spend an extra ten minutes planning out the next month ahead. These days, it feels like our weekends fill up with weddings, family obligations, and vacations faster than ever. By getting a grasp on your schedule a few weeks ahead of time, you’ll be able to grasp the bigger picture, and know when it’s time to start saying “no” to things. If you’re a visual learner, you might even want to grab our free blank calendar template to see the entire month mapped out on one page.
4. Monday Night = Non-Negotiable "Me Time" 🧖🏼♀️
We’re all busy, but you deserve some alone time, girlfriend! Reserve a few hours every Monday night just for you, so you can finally read that book, work on that personal project, spend some time journaling — whatever it is that your little heart desires!
It might be easier to physically block out your calendar and give advanced notice to your spouse, kids, friends or other family ahead of time. Treat this solo time as sacred, and don’t let anything interrupt this new weekly routine. Feeling guilty? Remember, there’s nothing selfish about reserving a few hours each week just for yourself — by keeping your own cup full, you’ll be better able to serve others, right? You do you, and go run that bubble bath.
You Got This, Girl!
One thing is for sure, there’s no lack of productivity tips or self-improvement advice out there on the internet. And sometimes, it can start to feel so overwhelming that we just want to scream “screw it!” and give up. But the next time a Monday full of wildcard distractions starts to pull you in competing directions, try to slow down, take a breath and aim to accomplish whatever needs to get done one step at a time.
After all, slow progress is better than no progress, and just a little bit of planning ahead on a Monday can provide the motivation you need to crush all of your goals during the rest of the week. Cheers to that!
Read Next: Five Happiness Hacks to Live a More Fulfilled Life
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Thanks for checking out The Deep Clean, Tidy Plan's blog full of tips and advice to help you declutter your mind and build good habits. We're all about self-care, productivity, organization, and are here to assist you on your personal growth journey to become your best self!
