When Sunday evening rolls around, it’s easy to find yourself curled up on the sofa with a pit in your stomach. You know Monday morning is right around the corner and that means an overloaded schedule with very little breathing room. But what if Mondays weren’t something you dreaded? What if you could show up at the office on Monday morning and feel prepared to tackle the week ahead? With a little preparation, you can.
Being Proactive About the Week Ahead
Very few people are happy to see the weekend come to a close, but that doesn’t mean you have to dread Mondays. Assuming you don’t detest your job, you’ll likely find that your stress and anxiety over Mondays is a byproduct of your lack of preparation.
By spending a few minutes being proactive on Sunday afternoon/evening, you can put yourself in a much better frame of mind.
Not sure where to start? Here are some targeted suggestions:
1. Organize a To-Do List
The first thing you should do is prepare a to-do list for your Monday. (If your job is conducive to planning far ahead, you may even create a to-do list for each day of the workweek.)
The key to a successful to-do list is to be specific and realistic. The more concrete your daily tasks and objectives are, the more likely that you’ll complete them. From the realism perspective, you want tasks to be attainable. If an action can’t be completed in a timely manner, it needs to be broken down into smaller parts.
2. Prepare Meals
It’s both healthy and cost-effective to pack your own lunch and bring it to work. The problem is that it’s also time consuming. Nobody wants to prepare and pack a meal the night before work (or the morning of), which often leads to bad lunchtime habits (such as going out for fast food).
One of the best things you can do is prepare different lunches on Sunday afternoon and go ahead and portion them out for the rest of the week. Soup is perfect during the fall and winter because it can be made in bulk and divided up. For the warmer months, try making fresh salads and cold pasta dishes.
3. Select Outfits
For both men and women, one of the more time-consuming aspects of getting ready for work is choosing outfits. This is especially true in offices where formal business attire is required.
One way you can save some time and remove a little stress from your morning routine is by pre-selecting outfits for all five days and organizing them in your closet. You’ll love the feeling of waking up with one less thing to do.
4. Plan Something to Look Forward To
It’s always helpful if you have something to look forward to outside of work. Whether it’s grabbing a beer with friends on Wednesday for a local trivia night, or having your significant other over on Friday night for pizza and a movie, planning one or two social events will help you remain optimistic when work becomes stressful. It also creates a sense of work-life balance, which prevents work from becoming the most important thing in your life.
Don’t Dread Mondays Anymore
Everyone has a “case of the Mondays” from time to time, but Monday doesn’t have to be something you dread every week. In fact, if you spend enough time preparing on Sundays, you may actually come to enjoy Mondays as much as any other day of the workweek. The key is to be proactive by planning ahead.
Richard Parker is a freelance writer and author at TalentCulture.com and Readwrite. He covers industry-specific topics such as Seo, small business solutions, entrepreneurship, content marketing, word Press development & web design. You can connect with him at Linkedin , and Google +.
