From manic to magical: ‘Funday Monday’

Dread Mondays? Need to modify your mindset? I can relate. With that conundrum in mind, I arrived at an idea to transition from weekends into the work week by experimenting with something I call Funday Monday. Yes, you heard right. For me, weekends equate to “hustle” and “R&R.” On Saturdays, I cram as much to-dos as I can into the day. Although I realize that may not work for everyone, I like knowing that Sundays represent rest, recreation, reconnection and reset. And, although Mondays mean “day job,” I’ve started sprinkling—throughout—a bit of weekend fun. This might look like an early morning trek through the mountains or include a mid-day walk to McDonald’s for an iced mocha; or maybe a mani-pedi and/or movie marathon to round out the day. You might choose to meditate, meet a friend, schedule a massage or crank up your favorite music. With just a tiny amount of imagination, you can transform Mondays from manic to magical.

How do you feel about Mondays?

Image courtesy of IamTaew at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Work smarter, not harder: but do *something*

Twenty-one days ago, I pressed the reset button to rewire a few errant thought patterns and get back on track toward the vision I created for myself in February (see “Take your dreams to the next level…”). This included five action items to accomplish each day for three weeks. One reset task comprised writing for at least 21 minutes daily. Some days the time flew by; others it crawled, the latter of which forced me to discover new ways to stimulate my enthusiasm. A daily writing prompt often became the catalyst to unblock my creativity; another day I drafted a blog post. And another I played around with story ideas. More and more I’m finding that there isn’t one “right” way to live the good life. But [doing] something is better than nothing. And because it’s common for life and its myriad demands to pull us away from our goals, we should work smarter—not harder—to be good stewards of our time.

How do you work smarter?

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

The show must go on

 

[Image credit: digitalart]

Speaking of setbacks (see “keep on keeping on”), my next brick wall included three auras—those squiggly lights and shapes that 20 percent of migraine sufferers experience—in one day. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been plagued with nine of these buggers. And then, the post-aura headaches zap my energy, taking my productivity hostage and dumping me on the sofa like a sack of potatoes. I did contact my specialist and plan to get in to his office for a consultation. In the meantime, I push through the work days, albeit slower than normal. And I show up to yoga practice, sometimes unable to complete a posture because of the stabbing pain in my head. For me, returning to the hot room—whether it’s following a few days’ absence or difficult day or even on a decent day—is like pushing a reset button on my attitude so I can continue to be a contributing member of the show.

How do *you* keep on keeping on?