Hello Monday! My favorite 5 tips to get the most out of Monday’s.

It’s Monday again, and that’s not a bad thing.

After a week of vacation, my inbox is full of things to do. It’s easy to see that as a burden, but there is also a positive side. A long list of to-dos gives the opportunity to tick many things off and feel like you have accomplished a ton already before noon.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

I love to start my Monday To-Do List already on Sunday. Organizing has always been my thing. Which you would perhaps not believe if you would see what my office looks like :-) I am certainly not neat as a pin. Yet there is a significant difference between being organized and being tidy.

Looking at the bright side I’d like to call this contradiction the best exercise to develop a skill called “Thriving in Chaos”. Life isn’t always neat and tidy. On the contrary, life is pretty messy most of the time. So it’s wonderful to be able to sit down in a messy place and get shit done.

Here are my favorite five tips to get the most out of Monday’s. Each of them are part of a different Internet blog post. If you want to read more, you can click through to the full blog post.

Prepare for Monday on Friday
from Forbes 11 ways to beat the Monday blues

It is a no-brainer: if you plan out Monday’s workload on Friday, you’ll feel less overwhelmed on Monday. I don’t even mind creating that list on Sunday, but that’s very personal. I don’t really do work-life balance; it’s more work-life integration. If I didn’t work from home, it would likely be different.

Meet the MITs. The “most important tasks.”
from Lifehack How to Actually Get Things Done with Your To-do List

“Start the list with at least two items that absolutely must get done today, so you don’t end up vacuuming instead of finishing a project report due tomorrow. Even if the rest of the list stays untouched, the really meaningful stuff will get finished.”

Very true. I write my lists the old-fashioned way with a pen on paper. Then I have a highlighter to mark the MITs, the vital tasks; the must do’s. Whatever you name them, get them out of the way.

Add a time next to each task and then actually time yourself
from http://www.theactiongenerator.co.uk/

There are quite a few tools that let you time your tasks. I think it is an intriguing idea to assign the time needed for each task, add it all up and see how many hours of the day they sum up to. Then time them and see how far off the estimates were. I am pretty sure this will help manage time better. All a matter of discipline I suppose.

Build a Monday playlist
from PopSugar 5 Ways to Take the Sting Out of Monday

“Remember Jack Black’s special Monday morning playlist in High Fidelity? He may have taken things a little too far, but there’s something to be said for an upbeat list of your favorite tunes to get you through the first day of a long workweek.”

I have lot’s of playlists but not one specific for Monday’s yet I love the idea. Another item for my to-do list :-)

Make time for what you love
from thoughtcatalog 5 Ways to make the most of your Monday

“If you were trapped under an avalanche and had to dig yourself out, you wouldn’t take breaks to scroll Twitter or play Candy Crush. You have more time than you think you do. Make your hobbies a priority.”

What do you love? I found out I love to blog and find time for it every day. We all have more time than we think…

Plus: Try something new every day. It keeps life interesting. Ever tried skipping?

Wish you a great Monday!