 |
| © Unsplash / Carl Heyerdahl How to Have the Most Productive Week of Your Life - Seriously! |
By Nicole Yi, PopSugar
Mondays can always be a little stressful because you have to mentally prepare yourself for the week ahead.
Seeing all your pending to-dos as soon as you wake up can be
overwhelming, and before you know it, you're already hating the day. You
don't have to make it so difficult on yourself, though! There are
simple things you can do in advance and throughout that will help you take the week by storm.
1. Prep over the weekend.
Whenever you have a free moment,
whether it's Sunday night or Saturday morning, map out all your to-dos
for the week. That includes projects, personal errands, assignments,
etc. I am a huge advocate for using physical planners
because, one, you're more likely to remember something after writing it
down, and two, seeing your plans laid out in front of you gives you a
better sense temporally. Knowing your deadline is on Thursday vs. seeing
your deadline is on Thursday has a different sense of urgency.
2. Take a look at your week ahead.
Check
out your Google calendar and either mentally take note or add any
events, plans, and meetings to your planner. This will prevent you from
being surprised by any important dates and give you a heads-up on what
you need to prepare for. Like getting that birthday gift you still need
to buy before tomorrow's dinner? You're welcome.
3. Prioritize.
Now
that you've got your list of to-dos, briefly rank them by importance.
You don't need to make any physical notes; just getting an idea of your
workload ahead eliminates the need for figuring all that out later.
Knowing that you'll probably need a full day to work on that bigger
project will be helpful enough to be able to manage your time for the
remainder of your week.
4. Give yourself a head start.
Getting to work or waking up 30 minutes earlier
can make a huge difference because your mornings have such an impact on
the rest of your day. You can get a lot done within that time before
everyone else starts to roll in and chat about their weekends. Even if
you get into the office or get out of bed 10 minutes earlier, that gives
you enough time to make your coffee and catch up on things. You'll be
ready to tackle your list just about when you'd normally be starting
your day.
5. Minimize chats.
Put off responding to texts
until your lunch or break and resist unnecessary chats throughout the
day. You'll be able to keep your head down and power through whatever
you're working on instead of having to pause to respond to each message.
You'll be able to get through your to-dos much quicker if you remove
all distractions.
COMMENTS