Three Essential Productivity Tips to Jump-start Mondays

You’ve just spent a relaxing and fulfilling weekend with your family and friends. You even capped it off with a Sunday-evening movie. You are feeling pretty good. Life is great.

Then Monday comes…

If you are a self-employed teacher or tutor, the transition from a friend-focused, freedom-filled weekend to a business-focused Monday can be tough. The trick is to remove the thought and emotion from the transition. Put a routine in place that will make getting up and getting started on Monday morning a joy. Here are three tips that work for me:

1. Schedule a client/student meeting. If you know you need to meet a client on Monday morning, you will have no choice but to climb out of bed and get to it. If it is a client you really like, it will be much easier. If you have set your “work hours” to start later in the morning, just schedule your first meeting accordingly. Getting a first meeting behind you on Monday morning can be quite motivating.
2. Take a walk. Exercise can make you feel productive and can wake up the mind and the body. I find that a brisk walk in the morning produces an energized day. It seems that Richard Branson feels the same way.
3. Build and email your weekly to-do list to someone you trust. I have tried countless to-do apps, written things down in a spreadsheet, created a binder full of sticky notes, put up lists on whiteboards, and created to-do journals. Nothing really worked for me. What works is getting up on Monday morning, making a list of everything I need/want to finish during the week, and emailing that list to someone I trust. I send a follow-up email at the end of the week showing what I have accomplished. Because I know someone else is reading my list and will be reviewing what I have accomplished at the end of the week, I am much, much more productive. I make writing and emailing the list my first task on Monday mornings. That way, when I get up feeling groggy or when I return from my morning walk, I know exactly what to do first. It is a great way to jump-start the week.

Try out these tips and let us know what works for you!