How I Get Ready For Mondays on Fridays
Sundays. In the blink of an eye, we go from living our best lives and enjoying a rooftop brunch or relaxing with family, to “oh no, it’s Sunday night, and Monday is right around the corner.” It can go by many names (I’m partial to the “Monday scaries”), but one thing is consistent: the idea of Monday morning fills many of us with dread and not because we hate our jobs. In an instant, our weekend hopes and dreams are over and we begin scrambling to get ready for Monday morning.
I am not immune to this phenomenon, but a while back I started doing something every Friday to help me alleviate the work-related stress I would feel on Sunday nights and Monday mornings. Every Friday, near the end of my workday, I do the following:
Calendar Review
I review my calendar for the next week and Monday in particular and take note of any meetings or deadlines that are coming up.
Meeting Note Set-up
Then, I set up a note page for every Monday meeting along with key agenda items I need to make sure are covered. I personally love using Microsoft OneNote since it is integrated with Microsoft Outlook because I can generate meeting notes that automatically pull in the meeting details (and will explore this in later posts). If you prefer analog, handwritten notes also work well.
To-Do List
I create my to-do list for the next week based on the next week’s calendar and any deadlines I have coming up.
That’s it! This takes no more than 15 minutes, but now, I’m prepared for what’s coming up on Monday. I don’t have to scramble on Monday morning to figure out what I have going on that day or what I have coming up that week. While you may still experience some anxiety at the thought of Monday, you will have one less thing to worry about if you incorporate this short exercise into your Fridays.
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