I like Mondays.
You read that correctly. That is not a typo. When Monday morning rolls around and people across the nation in their millions rub their pasty eyes and grumble about work, I'm waking up with the same eager sense of anticipation an artist feels when they sit down to a blank canvas, brush in hand. If I sound mad, read on...
You read that correctly. That is not a typo. When Monday morning rolls around and people across the nation in their millions rub their pasty eyes and grumble about work, I'm waking up with the same eager sense of anticipation an artist feels when they sit down to a blank canvas, brush in hand. If I sound mad, read on...
Now before you accuse me of being naive or insensitive to your distinct work situation, I will tell you that there were plenty of Sunday evenings past where I'd feel that deflating sense of inevitability, similar to that feeling you get on the trip home after a wonderful holiday. No matter what I did or where I went as the sun set, I knew there would be no sleeping in for me because on the other side of the soothing shades of Sunday night, lurked mundane, mind-numbing Monday. Usually, the closest thing to look forward to was another 5 days away- nearly a full week! Even Friday afternoon, often treated as the opening ceremony for the weekend, felt like a long, very boring way away.
Since going into business for myself, however, I've developed a new appreciation for the first day of the working week. I realise that if I wanted, I could stay in bed all day. I could watch TV, ride my bike or do anything else I pleased. I could make every weekend a three-day weekend. But even if I do believe there should be 4 days in the working week and 3 day weekends for the average Australian, doing this myself in the current 5 days on, 2 days off standard would leave me feeling cheated. For me, Monday is a clean slate. It's the start to a week that could change my business, my career, even my whole life for the better. Hopefully you'll understand where I'm coming from (especially if you received that wonderful job offer, met the love of your life or had a child on a day that wasn't Saturday or Sunday!)
For me, Monday begins with breakfast and coffee and writing up my weekly planner, as well as my daily one (I will cover this topic exclusively at a later date.) For me, Monday morning is when I have the place to myself and I dwell on anything that was great about the week just gone. Then I think about what are the biggest things I want to achieve in the week ahead. If Tom Cochrane was right and life is a highway, then Monday morning is my road house. I pull in and refuel, clean my windscreen so my vision is clear, load up on coffee, plot my journey for the next 7 days and then hit the road again. As a side note, how many of you have that Tom Cochrane song playing in your head now?
How differently could Monday- the thought of it, the anticipation of it, living through it- be if you decided that instead of a return to the same old same old, it was the first day providing you with the chance to make this week even better than your last one?
Since going into business for myself, however, I've developed a new appreciation for the first day of the working week. I realise that if I wanted, I could stay in bed all day. I could watch TV, ride my bike or do anything else I pleased. I could make every weekend a three-day weekend. But even if I do believe there should be 4 days in the working week and 3 day weekends for the average Australian, doing this myself in the current 5 days on, 2 days off standard would leave me feeling cheated. For me, Monday is a clean slate. It's the start to a week that could change my business, my career, even my whole life for the better. Hopefully you'll understand where I'm coming from (especially if you received that wonderful job offer, met the love of your life or had a child on a day that wasn't Saturday or Sunday!)
For me, Monday begins with breakfast and coffee and writing up my weekly planner, as well as my daily one (I will cover this topic exclusively at a later date.) For me, Monday morning is when I have the place to myself and I dwell on anything that was great about the week just gone. Then I think about what are the biggest things I want to achieve in the week ahead. If Tom Cochrane was right and life is a highway, then Monday morning is my road house. I pull in and refuel, clean my windscreen so my vision is clear, load up on coffee, plot my journey for the next 7 days and then hit the road again. As a side note, how many of you have that Tom Cochrane song playing in your head now?
How differently could Monday- the thought of it, the anticipation of it, living through it- be if you decided that instead of a return to the same old same old, it was the first day providing you with the chance to make this week even better than your last one?