Never Have Time for Yourself? Why You Should Frontload Your Week

Oh Monday, you get such a bad wrap. It’s about time we flip that script and make Monday your bit2h!

But really. Mondays are my new favorite day of the week. I look forward to Mondays. Maybe it’s because my routine gives me some illusion of control? Either way, by prioritizing these specific tasks to be completed on Monday, I have the rest of the week to focus on producing and creating — not wasting time guessing and getting out of my head.

My Mondays are made up of two types of tasks: administrative and mindset.

Administrative:

• Update budget. I have a monthly budget that I set for myself. I update my spending every Monday and make sure the payments or withdrawals set for that week are ready. This helps me know how much I can comfortably spend and relax that I am not going over.
• *Write out tasks to accomplish for the week. My tasks are tied to my long and short-term goals. I look at each goal area (career, family, personal, business, health) and add to my list the tasks or actions I need to accomplish to meet those targets. These include exercise, social activities, continuing education, work projects and so on. *As the week goes on, I may add new items to my list, but the plan is set on Monday.
• Confirm appointments. I am religious about my calendar. If it’s not on my calendar, it’s not happening. For this reason, it’s crucial that everything I have on my calendar is confirmed and any changes are updated. This protects my time and gives an accurate representation of where I am spending it.
• *Nutrition and Meal Prep. Since being home full time, my meal prep looks a little different. I do more bulk prepping as needed and make sure that I have all the ingredients I need to stick to my food plan. If anything is running low, I add a grocery trip to my calendar!

Mindset:

• *Clean. Make the bed, tidy up your space and open those windows! I like to light candles and burn herb bundles to clean the energy of the space and welcome in the new week.
• *Exercise. Monday is yoga day, always. I might do a power flow or Yin class depending on how I feel, but this helps me focus on my breath and get the blood flowing. After the movement portion, I end with a silent meditation even if for a few minutes. Just stop, sit and receive.
• Tools. I have picked up different tools over the past few years that I like to work with to focus my energy and to set my intentions for the week. I use chakra cards that I shuffle and whichever one falls out is the chakra I focus on working with for the week. Based on the chakra, I select one to three mudras, symbolic hand gestures used in Hinduism and Buddhism, to practice as part of working with the chakra. Finally, I select crystals that I am going to keep with me or on my workspace. All of these tools are reminders of my intention and where to focus my attention.
• Write Intentions for the week. From my meditation and working with the tools mentioned, I select an intention for the week. I write it in the format, “I am..” for example, “I am present” or “I am surrender” whatever I am looking to create that week.
• *Write Affirmations. What started with my gratitude practice, see past article, has evolved to a daily affirmations practice. I have taken a little bit from Rachel Hollis’ book “Girl Stop Apologizing” and Jeff Olson’s “The Slight Edge” to come up with how I write mine. I start by writing what I’m grateful for, then write my ten lofty goals I am looking to achieve written in the present tense and with a feeling attached, and end with the one goal I am actively working towards that will get me closer to a lofty goal.
• Listen to a podcast. I enjoy and have learned a lot from listening to podcasts. It kind of fell into my Monday routine because the podcast I really liked, Helen Jacobs: The Guided Collective, released a new episode on Sundays Australia time so I would listen on Mondays. Another favorite is Oprah’s Super Soul Sundays podcast where she’s interviewed some of the most incredible people! I always get new journaling prompts, topics to research, or book recommendations from listening to these. It keeps my eager soul learning!

*The asterisk next to a few items are the habits that I also do Tuesday through Sunday.

Let me be clear, this can all be done in under an hour or it can be done throughout your Monday. I prefer to workout in the morning and go from there, but make a plan that’s going to help you organize your week and get your mindset right.

By frontloading my week with these tasks, I am not chasing down admin stuff all week, my time is planned out and I have made time for myself to feel and show up as the best me.

Everything I prioritize now is what I used to put off because I didn’t have time for it or it wasn’t as “productive” as getting to my actual work. But the thing is, prioritizing you and what you need is actually work!

You can only be as good to others as you are good to yourself. Replace “good” with any word you want and it’s still true. Try helpful, productive, supportive — you get the picture?

I know a lot of advice says to do the most difficult thing first. And that’s what this is. Because it’s the work that so many of us put off because we believe the lie, “I don’t have time.”

So I have made Monday, my time.

It sets the pace for my entire week and keeps me focused. It gives me my intention to come back to if anything happens during the week that throws me off.

I have built this routine over the past few years and let me tell you, there is no going back. We are creatures of habit, so why not use that to have habits that make us enjoy life?

What have you been wanting to do but keep putting off? Make time for it on Monday!