We always fall in the “It’s Monday, let’s get work done!” with gusto and optimism. Not that it’s a bad thing, it just feels like every time Monday rolls around, I find myself sitting at the desk making a long list of things I’d want to do for the day and what else should be done for the week. Often times I get a little too ambitious, set expectations and not having to do the long “to do” list I’ve listed the entire week.
After recognizing the pattern, I learned to re-assess priorities and realized I only get to do at three to five major tasks in a day excluding some nuggets of stuff to do in-between.
It’s important to list all the tasks and categorize them according to urgency, dependency, and consequences.
As I intend to spend fewer hours stuck in traffic, at the office or outside the corners of our (still remodeling and staging) home, I sat down to really think about the things I can avoid doing on Monday, to put my best foot forward for the week and get to do more ‘home-making’ yet not miss out potential income streams.
Maybe, my realizations can help you, too.
These are a few things that I think if you avoid doing on Mondays, you will actually accomplish much more in working towards your big picture goals.
Less Stress On Emails
Before you hop on in to check your inbox, make sure you were able to write your top 3 priorities for the day which can fulfill and accomplish your week-long goals.
Avoid unloading your inbox first thing on Monday morning. Attempting to have inbox zero sounds like a huge accomplishment but having to do it during the first day of the entire hustle will make you go bonkers.
If you really want someone to pay close attention to an e-mail you are sending them, try sending it on a Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday mid-day when their inbox is less inundated (yes, including yours!).
Errands and Parking Lots
If you can do it all online, by all means, do so. If not, avoid doing errands that may involve a huge crowd resulting in cashier lines or long wait times. I avoid the gym early in the morning (if you can do so during your lunch break, the better), I’d rather head my way to the dry cleaners late at night or leave my bag for pick-up rather than self-service and pretty much any place that has a parking lot. It’s always too crowded and can serve as a big distraction to completing bigger picture goals for keeping your life on track plus a waste of productivity time.
Insanity
If you’ve been doing it over and over, you’ll need to re-evaluate and find a solution to automate. Something that I’ve been trying to hack from end to end up until this day – from queries to purchasing. And, having to include some automation tools on social campaigns – it has made the biggest difference in my productivity. I get to do other things knowing the automation will do its own groundwork.
What are some things that you would suggest people stop doing to make Mondays efficient and more productive? Leave a comment below!
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