I’ve had the Sunday night blues. I’ve had the nervous, dreadful feeling while getting ready for work on Monday morning. I’ve felt trapped in the 9-5 daily grind, hamster-wheel life that I thought I was ‘supposed’ to live. That was before I took massive action, over and over, to find and do work that I absolutely love, and create a career that lights me up. It takes a lot of work, but it’s possible to do work that ignites your life and makes you feel incredibly on fire. Here’s how to love Mondays:
1. Streamline your life
One reason some people feel stuck and dissatisfied with their lives and careers is that the 9-5 isn’t exactly 9-5. In fact, it’s more like 8-6. Then, after work, it’s the daily responsibilities of life before lying down, exhausted, at the end of the day. And then repeat. Day after day, for 40 years. One of the best ways to start making your life more enjoyable is to streamline your life. Start getting rid of the empty activities: those time-sucking activities that don’t add any value to your life. Start making your daily tasks as efficient as possible, and delegate what you can hand off to someone else. When you streamline your daily tasks, you can create more time in your day to do the things you love. By maximizing the time you have to do things that light you up, life feels much more fulfilling and less like a hamster wheel.
2. Become a self-expert
In order to love Mondays, it’s important to have a strong understanding of who you are. When you really know what lights you up, what your innate strengths are, what type of work environment your personality type thrives in, and what kind of work schedule makes you feel energized, then you can choose a career path that aligns with these traits. On your quest to become a self-expert, it’s important to know that clarity comes from taking action. Experiment with the parts of your work days that you have control over at in your current job. Can you vary your work hours, your work location, the order in which you accomplish your tasks, or who you’re working alongside? Take action and make some little changes in your work days. Then pay attention to how you feel. Are you more energized, or feeling more drained? The more you take action, the more you’ll understand what type of work environment helps you feel fulfilled.
3. Do work you’re passionate about
It’s hard to love Mondays if you feel like you’re doing meaningless work. When you’re passionate about your work, however, your job becomes much more than a paycheck. When you feel on fire about the work you do, your career becomes very fulfilling and you can make a big impact. If you’re not sure what you’re passionate about, check out this free workbook to help you find your passion.
4. Choose a career that fits into your ideal life
Most people choose a career path, then try to fit their lives around their career. They cram their personal lives into the few hours they have outside of work during evenings and weekends, and this time gets whittled away as they climb the corporate ladder. I want you to do things differently. I want you to think about your ideal life, and choose a career path that fits well into the lifestyle and schedule you desire. Do you want a flexible schedule, or a set schedule? Do you want to go to work at a big company, surrounded by a lot of interesting people every day, or do you prefer to work somewhere smaller or independently? Do you want to work at a set location, or do you prefer to travel for work, or even be able to work from anywhere? In your ideal career, do your work duties vary significantly and you work as a jack-of-all-trades, or are you an expert at one specific topic? In your ideal life, how many hours per week are you working? When you choose a career that aligns with your overall dreams about your life, Mondays become a lot more awesome.
5. Use each day to become the best possible version of you
Maybe your work isn’t incredibly enjoyable. As you’re working toward an exit plan, use the time at your current job to become the best possible version of you. Do you want to develop your leadership skills? Ask to be in charge of a new initiative, plan an upcoming company party, or become a mentor to a newbie. Do you want to get in better shape? Start a walking club at lunch with your coworkers. Use that time to get outside, enjoy the fresh air, and enjoy non work-related conversations. Do you want to improve your communication skills? Practice speaking up during meetings, and work on being an active listener. When you start focusing on being the best possible version of you during your workdays, you start creating a positive environment, which can affect others around you too. This can lead to better Mondays for not only you, but your coworkers too. We spent many hours of the best years of our lives at our jobs. When you follow these strategies, it can help make your Mondays, and your entire weeks, much more enjoyable. Featured photo credit: Eli DeFaria / www.unsplash.com via hd.unsplash.com
