Rushing through the shower and out the door, I headed to the coffee shop where my networking colleague and I last met, then discovered from my phone calendar that I was not only heading to the wrong place, I needed 25 minutes to get there. The appt was scheduled for in 7 minutes. Checking my contact file, I realized I was missing the appointee's phone number. Rats.
In the meantime I needed to google directions to the new location in Dublin and my GPS wasn't coming in. Hoping for him to call me, I realized my morning actions weren't measuring up. Fortunately, he did call and I got to the appt, very embarassed. The rest of the day seemed full of mishaps that by 6pm I was ready to end. Actually, I wanted to redo Monday.
When Mondays go well, the rest of the week is full of possibility. When it doesn't, we're just the average Joe, wishing things were different. There are 3 reasons I have for starting Mondays off well.
Here are the reasons for starting off well on Monday:
1. Most other folks don't start off well on Monday.
In all industries, we have our Monday morning complainers, late arrivers, skippers and excuse makers. The 3 most productive days in American culture are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We crank things out mid-week, but Mondays are almost always off to a slow start.
Starting off well on Mondays gives us a noticeable difference.
2. The early bird gets the worm.
Getting up and moving WITH the alarm, whether to take the dog out for a walk, to get AM exercise in, to create the week's plan list or to get into the office early gives us a head start on thinking and on doing. When others roll in around 9, only to get their coffee and catch up on chit chat, it's 10am until they are producing. By then we can have a solid 2 hours of focused time in, and it's now time for a 5 minute break.
Once we see how far ahead we are, our spirit soars, leading us to more.
3. We have set the tone for the week.
We find ourselves pumped, eager, full of energy. We set new benchmarks for ourselves and suddenly want to keep the momentum going. A week that starts well is a week that ends well. Put it the first week of the month and we have set the tone for the entire month. Put it the first week of the quarter and we suddenly get inspired for a longer turn commitment to our potential.
And if Monday has already come and gone, and it didn't go well, don't assume the week is lost. Imagine Tuesday as the new benchmark.
Our tone is shaped by our attitude, which defines our thoughts, gets articulated by our words and drives our actions. Set the tone as soon as possible.
Today is Wednesday - thank goodness I reset my attitude early Tuesday morning, which reset my week. By 10am Wednesday I had reached my goal of scheduling my needed appts for next week. It meant re-shaping my attitude, focusing on my goals and following through. But what it really meant was showing up as soon as possible in my day.
With all this progress I made from Tuesday to now, imagine what more I could have done had Monday started well. Next week, new deal.
Excellent post, Merri -- My "No Meeting Monday" policy has allowed me to be hyper-productive for the reasons listed above ... others aren't in position to be at their most receptive on Mondays so I use my day to set the tone to hit it out of the park on Tues-Weds-Thurs! Thanks for sharing and reminding us ...
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