4 Ways To Have A Better Week

How many times has a Thursday afternoon rolled around and you have that same longing for the weekend? Sometimes the feeling is a self-induced state of panic at all the tasks and responsibilities you’ve been putting off, which now hang over your head for Friday. Maybe it’s the sinking feeling of another week ticking by and you haven’t taken those proactive steps towards your personal goals. Or, perhaps its that genuine week-from-hell and you can’t wait until it’s behind you. Whatever scenario fits your Thursday afternoon – we’ve all had the general feeling – and it sucks.

The predicament that most of us fall into is that we let our week plan us, instead of planning our week. We park our car and trudge into work on a Monday morning knowing only in part, what awaits us for the week. Quickly, we become saturated with the agendas and plans of others, rather than setting our own pace of accomplishment. The result of this approach, of course, is that by the middle to end of the week, we have that drained feeling. Tired of our work, burned out on our tasks, and reminded of what we haven’t accomplished.

In our quick-fix culture, I regret to inform you that there are no shortcuts to taking control of your week. It takes effort and continuous reinforcement, but you can achieve a better week.

Here are 4 ways to have a better week:

1. Plan Ahead – Instead of starting your week at 7AM on Monday, shoot for a quick planning session on Sunday night. Review what you want to accomplish in the week ahead. Prioritize your tasks in the office for the week, and set a time on when you will complete them. Use your calendar to be sure you are planning for your extracurricular activities. Once complete, look at the entire week and walk through it in your mind. This simple exercise shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes and will make a huge difference in your approach to the week. Monday morning will roll around and you will already have a feeling of accomplishment before you get into the office – poised for success.
2. Prioritize Personal Development – We live and work in an “always connected” society. This has tremendous upside, but huge downside as well. Leading to longer workdays, and even working while not “working”, this lifestyle can drain us. The penalty we pay is that we become extremely near-sighted. We only ever see days, weeks, or at most a month ahead. When was the last time you genuinely thought about your future? Your career path? Your life goals? But, you’re too busy to do that, right? That is exactly why it is essential to make this a priority. Our workweek will eat us alive if we let it. Scheduling a mere 30-minutes a day to work on your future, and personal development is critical and will make a huge difference with time.
3. Find a Release – Finding enjoyable time amidst a busy schedule is often overlooked, and usually gets thrown to the bottom of the barrel. The workdays grinds us down so much, that we forget what we enjoy doing outside of work. Some are self-described “weekend warriors”. Working exhaustively for 5PM on Friday, like a junior-higher waiting for the final period bell. Partying and sleeping in all weekend, and getting up Monday morning to do it all over again. That is NOT a release – it’s a coping mechanism. I’m a proponent of physical fitness, and just 30-60 minutes of exercise each day will grant that release. Proven to increase mental strength, concentration, and productivity, you should not be passing up on this time.
4. Watch Out For Yourself – We often incorrectly think of the term boundaries negatively. Boundaries imply setting some type of barricade to keep things in, or others out. But, setting boundaries in your work life (and life in general) is a valuable tool. There are times when we need to put in a couple more hours of overtime, or drop in the office on the weekend, or answer an email from the boss at 10PM. But far more often than not, we give in regularly and inflict the abuse on ourselves. Boundaries will help us stay on our schedule (see #1) rather than adapt to someone else’s. This is a good thing, and extremely healthy. Make a conscious decision to turn off email on your phone after a certain time. Obviously, exceptions exist, but the principal is true – boundaries create better personal awareness and help us think about the bigger picture.

These tips will get you on your way to avoiding the Monday doldrums and the Thursday meltdowns. When we get control of our week, we will feel better, accomplish more, and make a bigger difference around us.