Redirect Your Monday Energy!

It's been said,

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it".

How well do you do MONDAY?

For some, Monday is every day of the week. (You know who you are.) For others, every Monday is a new chance at life—a new beginning!

Have you ever caught yourself saying something like

"It's Monday, but it's okay". "I'm uninstalling Monday". "Yeah, too much Monday, not enough coffee." Or this one? "It's finally Friday."

I've recently heard them all, and these phrases convey a more profound and perhaps deeper message about how we choose to live. Our attitude. (And it is a choice.)

When do your Monday thoughts begin? On Sunday afternoon? Sunday at dinner? Do your thoughts about Monday grind on you and those around you? Do your thoughts about Monday steal your time and prevent you from being fully present with your loved ones on Sunday? Do they press in on you?

If you play a round of golf on Sunday afternoon, spend the afternoon at the lake or the beach, picnic at the park, or?perhaps go camping on the weekend, do your thoughts of Monday begin to creep in at 6 p.m. on Sunday? Maybe sooner?

If you feel your Mondays are a drudgery or less than they could be, if you dread Monday mornings, then keep reading.

Be honest. When do you begin to think about your Monday?

You are not alone. Many feel drudgery about Mondays; for many, it does start on Sunday afternoon, and if we are not careful, our attitude about Monday steals our most valuable time spent with friends and loved ones.

A survey by?B2B Reviews?found that 25% of employees are less productive on Mondays, 50% experience higher stress on Mondays, and 57% wish Mondays were part of the weekend. (But then, what about Tuesday?)

Here are three ways to make your Monday Magical: increase your Motivation and use Monday to build Momentum for your week.

• Lingering stressors: Unresolved issues and pending deadlines from the previous week can cause anxiety. This makes it hard to concentrate and leads to a lack of productivity on Monday.

Prioritize your Friday afternoon to take care of any unresolved issues. You can set up an appointment with yourself for an hour on Friday. And no matter what, block the time, and keep your appointment. You wouldn't think of breaking an important appointment with someone else, so why would you break an appointment with you? Put it on the calendar. Keep the appointment. Say "NO" to everything but you for an hour.

• Adopt a "new beginning” mindset: Monday may be the perfect time to start fresh. Reprogram your thinking.

Realize you are in control of your thoughts.?You are free to choose. You can believe and then prefer to think positively or negatively. Then, vocalize your positive mindset. Put your positive words out into the cosmos for others to hear. Say how your positive Mondays make a massive difference in your productivity for the week, for example. Say how you love Mondays. Human behavior science indicates that we seek to honor our commitments when they are "spoken." It works with goals, too. Your words have power. Choose your words more carefully beginning on Sunday. Affirm your positive thinking about your Monday.

• Inbox / Outbox: Facing a flooded inbox on Monday morning can be overwhelming.

Prioritize people, meetings, tasks, and your inbox. Consider implementing Dr. Stephen Covey's time quadrant. Separate your inbox, including people, things, and tasks, into the quadrants of Important, those with high significance to goals and plans, and Urgent, tasks requiring?immediate action and attention. Click here to learn more and set up your system to prioritize your life.

Starting strong on Monday creates a sense of momentum and achievement that carries over into the rest of the week.? To help you redirect your Monday Energy, let me recap.

Start your day early. Build a habit of attacking your Monday.

Prioritize your tasks. This will help you with feeling overwhelmed.

Plan ahead. (Friday) Get ahead of Monday. Time Block an appointment.

Utilize Breaks, take a breath.

Use tools like Stephen Covey's Quadrant to organize and prioritize your lists. Click here!

I love starting Mondays by getting up early, attacking the day, and setting the tone for my week. Will you join me?

Lead differently!

Today, be Encouraged. And Encouraging!