Daunting Monday Mornings? This is How I Jump Right Into It with a Smile
The single new ritual that has helped transform my whole work (i. e. writing) week
I’ve been writing a personal blog for several months now.
Simultaneously, I became more and more depressed until I arrived at a point where I knew I just had to change things about my life and pull myself out of this hole or I wouldn’t be able to get on with it.
So, one of the most recent changes I’ve made to my daily life was to move my blog writing slot from Sunday evening to Monday morning.
Initially, I had chosen Sunday evening to recap the week. But as of late, my time to write has diminished considerably on Sundays.
After a bit of thinking back and forth, I finally settled with Monday morning.
Monday mornings have been exceptionally daunting for me over the past weeks.
Yes, I want to make my freelance writing career happen.
Yes, my determination is growing steadily (as well as my pain for not achieving it).
Yes, there are lots of things in my life that I just have to do whether I like it or not.
And on Monday mornings, I’d set up my little workspace in my kitchen. Then, all the thoughts about what would happen and what I wanted to get done this week rushed through my brain and…I stopped! I became so scared, daunted, overwhelmed by this mass that lay ahead of me that I couldn’t get myself to start.
I didn’t even know where to start, somehow. Instead of being happy that I have a bunch of tasks to choose from, I just sat there pondering how to prioritize, which order would be the smartest, and so on. And I couldn’t arrive at a solution!
In the end, I began watching YouTube videos on freelance writing or started reading articles on Medium that sounded helpful. Yes, of course, reading is an important part of writing. I support this statement 100 %. But, you know, I want to read when I want to read, not as an excuse to not be productive!
When I was then faced to find a new date for my blog writing ritual, it suddenly hit me that doing this on Monday morning might be THE solution! Simply because it takes the thinking part out of the process: I go to the kitchen, set up my workspace, open my WordPress app and start typing. I don’t question it and I don’t do anything else until I get this post published.
A fixed first activity of the week to kick-start it all!
And yes, for me, it does work out!
Here’s how this shows:
As I’ve already mentioned, I don’t stop or do anything else until I’ve published that blog post. And when I hit that button, I feel so rewarded and happy and at peace with myself — pure serenity!
This feeling is everything I need for the rest of my week: Whenever I plan the next writing activity, I already reimagine this feeling and look forward to generating it again.
When I sit down to write, it hits me almost immediately and I write my time away with a smile. Whenever I do get stuck or need some extra motivation, I just remember how great I’ll feel afterward, and then I do start just to feel this way again.
Naturally, the more often I generate this feeling, the more often I feel good, and the more often I long to feel it — a positive vicious cycle!
Plus, these effects boost my mental state in general, making me more productive, more efficient, more willing to do things and get them done. It even reduces my anxieties and tendency to procrastinate. After all, as overwhelming as something might feel to me:
Only when I start do I stand a chance of getting it done!
And with every minute spent on this particular project, it becomes a little less terrifying and makes me a little bit more confident.
What’s more: The results of this small change have even prompted me to make more changes and add new rituals to my work week because now that I’ve witnessed that I actually can change I feel the urge to make progress and do it faster!