I pride myself on my ability to happily survive Mondays and usually have all the energy in world to dive into my to-do lists when the day starts and go as far as to look forward to it on Sunday evening but let's get real... Monday also means all those precious hours of rest and weekend fun are painfully over. I've developed a system that makes things easier for me and has helped me enjoy the day... As much as one can enjoy Monday that is.
First and foremost I have to mention and admit I'm a bit OCD so the first thing I do before bed on Sunday or early Monday morning (if I had to put in an extra hours of work on the weekend) is to re-organize my office and take some fresh flowers to place on my desk in order to set the mood for the next morning. There's truly nothing worse than walking into a messy office when you're about to dive into all the emails and work that was left from the weekend.
My next step is to create a Monday to-do list with only 4 items, which usually consists of the 4 most important things I have to do every day work-wise. I usually get more than 4 tasks done but it helps keep my sanity intact.
As contradictory as this may sound, I do not sleep those extra 15 minutes on Monday. I try my best to wake up early, get dressed and ease into the work piles comfortably. I segment my work hours as I do every day but... I also let myself indulge a little with good music and a bit of day-dreaming.
Bottom line, there's no reason why we shouldn't enjoy Mondays and look for practical ways to make the day meaningful and productive. The key here is not to bite off more than we can chew and to remember that even if the littlest efforts leave you feeling drained there are always ways to reward yourself after a long day of work... Take out, a nice bubble bath and a glass of wine come to mind as I write.
How do you survive Mondays?