It's Monday again (or will soon be) and a lot of us wake up to the dreaded prospect of turning up.
The thing you believed, was sorted on Friday, is about to flare up. The plan you agreed with your team for this week is about to unravel. People will call in sick or you are feeling sick. You foresee long working hours with seemingly no end in sight.
Yet, a Monday is just another day like any other day.
So what's the problem?
Here's what I think - It's about energy! Or more precisely, channeling your energy upon resumption from a break.
Similar to hitting the gym after a prolonged break OR picking up a 640 page with text in font size 8 when the most you have read over the last year is a newspaper headline.
If you go hard and try to smash your way through, you are very likely to run out of steam.
And even more likely to give up.
And...giving up on a Monday means a disastrous week ahead. Similar to carrying a bale of wet cotton on your back.
And a week in the project world can be a long time to lose. We haven't even started on the impact it has on others and their energy.
So what can we do about it?
The basics first obviously - food, sleep, movements and breaks. There is more than enough literature on these topics.
There is another aspect I believe is critical to help you get through any day, more so on a Monday. And that is what you put your time on and here is a small framework I use on a daily basis to manage my working day.
Create - The best pleasure one can derive is from creation. Whether it is an approach document, a piece of code, a project plan, a communication mailer or that blog you were planning; creation feeds your energy like no other.
And this requires focus, attention and almost no distraction. If you are worrying about how you can find the time to create, you might be pleasantly surprised to note that the best of creators, based on research spend between 1-4 hours a day in create mode.
For what it is worth, you may want to re-think if you are still thinking about not having time.
Contribute - Another form of creation but with people. Which meetings in your calendar are setup with this in mind? Where you and one or more people gather to contribute and co-create?
Like brainstorming a new approach to a difficult problem, evaluating and enhancing a project plan or discussing your next big idea.
This requires you to be present, shut down multiple browsers and put the phone away to be at your most effective.
Contribution breeds collaboration and feeds your energy.
Consume - We cannot be all about creation and contribution. The perpetual motion machine (output without inputs) exists in theory. This is where the 3rd aspect comes into picture. We all need our share of consumption to round off a good day.
Key here is choosing what you consume. If social media feeds about outrage and news feeds about how the world is going to end are on your consumption menu, depression and exhaustion will be your unwelcome guests.
Carefully choosing what to consume will help you relax, conserve your energy and build stamina for further creation and contribution.
A good book, an insightful article, a great podcast, a good conversation with a friend or family member...the possibilities are endless.
Taking 15 minutes at the start of your day to ensure you have a balanced day covering creation, contribution and consumption will help you move through the day and stay in the game.
After all, our energy is the only thing we can really manage in this ever changing and uncertain world.
And if that is the case, then giving up on your energy on a Monday doesn't seem such a smart thing to do.
Have a great Monday and a wonderful week ahead.
PS: When you are ready, here are some ways we could take this conversation further:
1) If you would like to book time with me to have a conversation about your project, please follow the link here - HERE
2) I am now starting to plan my next book and reached out to my LinkedIn network this week asking for inputs on what topic resonates with them. I would love for all of you in this community to let me know what would you like to read? Here is the post - HERe
3) If you liked this newsletter, please share this with your friends and colleagues who may like it and also get them to signup here Newsletter
4) My first book REBOOT is still going strong on Amazon. It also made to Amazon Australia no. 1 best seller in the project management category. If you haven't got your copy yet, you can get it here: REBOOT
5) For more of who I help and how, you can visit my website www.ganapathyiyer.com.
Photo by Daniele Franchi on Unsplash