Since I started working for myself, Friday and Saturday are my slower days. I’m not Jewish but think of Saturday as the Sabbath and Sunday as the start of the week. I go to an early Sunday church service and feel inspired from that.
I love your idea of the mini three things and enjoyed learning what you do to make Monday easier. For me, meal planning for weeknight dinners makes it easier. I love to cook and this allows me to deliberately choose new recipes to try and then not have to think about what I want to cook at the end of a busy day. 😊
Loved your tips! The Sunday Scaries were real for me too. I appreciate the way you concretize your approach to minimizing the impact of the "blahs" and a Monday morning that controls your energy in a negative way. I used to prep on Friday for Monday with a do-list and a cleaned up desk. Having a treat prepped for lunch on Monday was helpful too. I would start my Monday with 15-30m of sketching - something just for me that would feed my work day, but got the juices flowing in an unstructured way, with no required outcome. Helpful segway into the work day/week! I would try to do this at least one more day during the week... like a Thursday, when I felt like I was running out of steam. I love that you're on substack! miss you!
Sunday prep--this is such a good idea. I'm good at writing to-do lists (though sometimes I don't go back and actually check the lists) but clearing out email in boxes ahead of Monday is so smart.
Thanks, Sarah. I find that writing the lists is the part that offloads the noise in my head. I don't actually need to check the lists often once I know they exist.
Build a reward into Monday is a good one I’ll be poaching, thanks! Especially putting some prior thought into it and reframing it as a reward and not an exhaustion consolation prize for making it through the day. Feel like it’ll be great to begin the week with a win.
I love the idea of a bank of time and that however I organize or utilize my time, it's all coming from the same bank. This was so helpful to me!! thank you!
Love it, Abby! Yesterday I made a big kale pie (it sounds gross but it’s basically quiche) because my husband is out of town and I knew I’d need lunch all week. Kind of like your pot of soup or big salad! Something so nourishing about making yourself food you can eat later ❤️
I do an inventory of my fridge on Sunday. What vegetables do I need to use before they get yucky? Write a shopping list and figure out a soup or repeatable meal (or two) to make.
I remember the Sunday blahs!
Since I started working for myself, Friday and Saturday are my slower days. I’m not Jewish but think of Saturday as the Sabbath and Sunday as the start of the week. I go to an early Sunday church service and feel inspired from that.
During the summer I like to make that shift and take Fridays for my own writing and personal stuff.
I love your idea of the mini three things and enjoyed learning what you do to make Monday easier. For me, meal planning for weeknight dinners makes it easier. I love to cook and this allows me to deliberately choose new recipes to try and then not have to think about what I want to cook at the end of a busy day. 😊
That investment of time in planning really pays off.
Loved your tips! The Sunday Scaries were real for me too. I appreciate the way you concretize your approach to minimizing the impact of the "blahs" and a Monday morning that controls your energy in a negative way. I used to prep on Friday for Monday with a do-list and a cleaned up desk. Having a treat prepped for lunch on Monday was helpful too. I would start my Monday with 15-30m of sketching - something just for me that would feed my work day, but got the juices flowing in an unstructured way, with no required outcome. Helpful segway into the work day/week! I would try to do this at least one more day during the week... like a Thursday, when I felt like I was running out of steam. I love that you're on substack! miss you!
Miss you too! Love how you used to start your Mondays. You should think about moving your newsletter to Substack. I bet you would do great.
Sunday prep--this is such a good idea. I'm good at writing to-do lists (though sometimes I don't go back and actually check the lists) but clearing out email in boxes ahead of Monday is so smart.
Thanks, Sarah. I find that writing the lists is the part that offloads the noise in my head. I don't actually need to check the lists often once I know they exist.
Yes, that's true for me too, although I still feel like if I were more organized, I'd actually check the list!
I'm a to-do lister and always fire up a new one on Mondays. I WISH I could meal plan but alas I always fly by the seat of my pants on that.
I confess I’ve gotten really lax about that too.
I usually write down my To Do List for the week as well as meal plan. I like crossing off stuff on my list . It sets me up for a productive week.
Crossing stuff off is a guaranteed dopamine hit.
Build a reward into Monday is a good one I’ll be poaching, thanks! Especially putting some prior thought into it and reframing it as a reward and not an exhaustion consolation prize for making it through the day. Feel like it’ll be great to begin the week with a win.
I like how you put that, Elliott. Reframing it not as a consolation but a reward.
I love the idea of a bank of time and that however I organize or utilize my time, it's all coming from the same bank. This was so helpful to me!! thank you!
Thanks so much, Valheria. I’m glad it resonated with you.
Love it, Abby! Yesterday I made a big kale pie (it sounds gross but it’s basically quiche) because my husband is out of town and I knew I’d need lunch all week. Kind of like your pot of soup or big salad! Something so nourishing about making yourself food you can eat later ❤️
I love making a quiche for the week! I need to get that recipe from you. It sounds good to me, assuming there's cheese in it or eggs or both.
Both! Will send :)
Great strategies, Abby! I battle every week with the Sunday Scaries so I'll have to try your tips!
Thanks, Heather! Let me know how that goes!
I do an inventory of my fridge on Sunday. What vegetables do I need to use before they get yucky? Write a shopping list and figure out a soup or repeatable meal (or two) to make.
Love it! And the best part about soup is you can really throw anything into it and it comes out okay
Love it!
Thanks, Rebecca!