To make Monday not so hard: how to get in the mood for work and survive the hardest day of the week

To make Monday not so hard: how to get in the mood for work and survive the hardest day of the week

Kyiv  •  UNN

October 20 2024, 08:00 PM  •  7176 views

You can become more productive without feeling too stressed

After a weekend, it can be difficult to get ready and start a new work week without complaining and hating Mondays. UNN has collected some tips for you on how to tune in to the working mood and not only survive Monday, but also be more productive throughout the working week.

Michael Lopp, one of Apple's CTOs, has given some good advice that anyone can use, especially office workers. This CEO has seven steps that he follows to make his workday more relaxed and productive.

Sip your morning drink slowly

Lopp advises to slowly drink your drink at the beginning of the workday - it can be coffee, tea, or just water.

This may seem like a primitive step, but such actions allow you to focus on the moment and distract yourself from unnecessary thoughts.

Set up your workspace

Spend a few minutes and clean up your workplace - make the space yours, put things in order.

Clears the email inbox

You can do it later in the day, but do it. Perhaps the secret is that it will make you feel like you've accomplished some work, even though it won't require much effort.

View your messengers

You may have missed something or something should be removed.

Pview the work calendar

If you have meetings scheduled in advance, think about how much time you will need to prepare and travel. Also, organize your to-do list.

Monitor important indicators

Regardless of what you do, you probably have important metrics, performance indicators - check them out. If not, you can invent them for yourself. They should be clearly defined and understandable.

The steps proposed by Apple's CEO are in line with what psychologists advise.

After all, according to their advice, the best start to the day will be with putting a plan of your actions for a day or a week. This will allow you to see the whole picture and distribute the load.

After that, you should start with small tasks, such as checking your email. You can also look at the list of unfinished tasks, respond to missed messages, calls. Or you can do something that is not your direct job responsibility, but something you can do quickly and efficiently (without disturbing your colleagues, of course).  You can even water the flowers or make a coffee for a colleague. Such steps will allow you to feel the pleasant taste of successful task completion and continue to accomplish even more global tasks throughout the day.

Also try to feel in control of the situation - remember the drink that you have to drink slowly? It will help you to feel yourself in reality and the one who controls it. It will also help you to put your workspace in order. Even if you work on a conveyor belt, you can, for example, fix your work uniform. It may seem like a small thing, but it is also something you control. And it is important.

If you have a large task, try to divide it into smaller ones. Think about, even write down, the stages  of implementation. And implement the project in stages. Each mini-goal is already an achievement.

Set aside 15 minutes to do the most time-consuming, unpleasant task you can think of. If you last 15 minutes, you'll have to do it to the end. Because you won't quit.

But most importantly, don't forget about rest, both during and after the working day. And feel free to reward yourself with nice little things after a productive Monday.

And may it become more enjoyable for you.