I’m confident that most of us would agree that Monday mornings are more difficult than any other day during the work week; after two days off (if you’re lucky) over the weekend, the 6am alarm clock is easily defeated and set to Snooze. We get it, we all feel the same, but we need to learn to tackle Monday’s and this starts way before the day even arrives! A bad start to a Monday morning will affect your entire week so here’s what you can do to tackle blue Mondays.
Set yourself up on Friday
Why tackle Monday mornings when they arrive? You wouldn’t prepare for battle on the day and Monday’s are no different! Start on Friday and prepare your Monday morning To-do list, plan for any meetings that are taking place and note your list of priorities for the day. If you often feel overwhelmed on a Monday with a meeting taking place you had forgotten to prepare for, a full inbox and the phones ringing off the hook, this is your solution; start on Friday.
Sunday afternoons
Have you ever felt the impending doom of a Monday morning looming over you on a Sunday afternoon? Snap out of it! If you are unable to switch off outside of working hours, the hours you do spend working will feel never-ending. Keep yourselves busy, see some friends or walk the dog – have some downtime to read or to finish the furniture you started building. When you return to work on Monday morning, you can head in knowing you have had some time to yourself to enjoy the things you love outside of the office and live a balanced life-style.
Don’t press snooze!
You may be aware that during a nights’ sleep, you go through phases of very deep and very light sleep. Often people will wake up just before their alarm clock and this is normally because your body feels satisfied with the rest it has had and would like you to wake up naturally, and normally during a light phase. Sometimes an alarm clock will interrupt a deep sleeping phase, and this can set you off for a very bad start to the day. The average human adult requires 7-8 hours of sleep each night so if you are getting this, don’t press snooze! You will only feel worse for it when the alarm goes off for the second time!
Make Mondays enjoyable.
Do something you enjoy every Monday; that way you can look forward to it each week! Whether that’s treating yourself to a Starbucks Coffee, or listening to your favourite playlist on your way into work. Maybe it’s a yoga session before work or a phone call to your best friend during your commute. Make Monday’s enjoyable.
At GKR London, we start our Mondays by:
- Reminding ourselves of the hard work we put in the previous week and how it has helped scope an even better week ahead.
- Touching base with our consultants, looking at how their activity correlates to achieving their targets and incentives so that they are reminded not only is it achievable but how they can get there.
- Looking at our resource performance working towards a better result week on week.
Every Monday morning, we are reminded of what we have each done well, and we each know what we are working towards to improve. That way, Monday is just like any other day of the week – both exciting and extremely rewarding!
