[Tracking Every Minute]-Day 9 – Back to Work
After a weekend filled with children’s activities and family commitments I find Mondays particularly important. If I can set the tone today, it typically translates into a good week.
So yes, I have a case of the Mondays, but hopefully in a good way.
Here is what this Monday ended up looking like, if you want to compare to last weeks, here is day 2.
6:30 – 8:30. I did not get my super special reading time in this morning. Monday not off to a great start.
8:30 – 9:30. Dropped of the kids and came back home. House was a bit messy, so I picked it up and prepared some breakfast.
9:30 – 10:30. Longer than usual communication block this morning. This is because it’s a Monday and I have some residual work from Friday through Sunday.
10:30 – 12:30. This is my first “deep work” block of the day. Pretty consistent in the timing.
12:30 – 1:30. Got a work out in. Hyrox is getting pretty popular. I wanted to see what all the hype was about so I tried a simulated Hyrox workout. Woah. It is no joke.
1:30 – 2:00. Had lunch with my wife after workout.
2:00 – 4:00. Second deep work block of the day.
4:00 – 7:30. Kids carpool from school to soccer practice and home.
7:30 – 8:30. Regroup with all of the family at home and have dinner together.
8:30 – 9:30. Close out the day on the laptop catching up.
Winning Monday
Win Monday, win the week. The might be a new motto for me. With my schedule and commitments, getting Monday right is really important.
On this Monday, I was able to do that. What worked well for me, was planning the day out in advance. I ended up shifting a few things around, but for the most part the schedule served as a great scaffolding.
For example, I planned on waking up at 6:00, but didn’t. I deleted that entry from my calendar, but I still had my morning drop off plan in the calendar and kept to it.
In the original plan, I wanted to start working at 8:30, but the house was a mess and I was hungry. So I cleaned up as I cooked myself breakfast. This was dangerous. Tidying can sometimes be used as a procrastination tool.
I know myself well enough to understand the danger. In this case, I was hungry and used the time cleaning up as a quick win. Similar to making my bed in the morning, I cleaned up a bit, so I got something done.
It pushed my morning back a bit, but I had extra slack in the system and used it to my advantage.
Main Takeaways
- Winning Monday is crucial for me. Sets the tone for the week and helps me shift back into work mode after a few days off.
- Don’t get caught up in “fake productivity.” I am prone to using easily defined tasks as instruments for my procrastination. The classic for me is picking up. It is always easy to justify cleaning up. Especially when there is a phone call that you don’t want to make.
- Plan in advance, adjust when needed, but let the plan guide you. Like navigating by waypoints throughout the day, having the day planned in advance gives you the chance to course correct when things come up.
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