A Monday Reflection on ILLUMINATION — I Love Mondays. Yes, I am a Weirdo.

Do you love Mondays? I do.

The start of the week sets the tone for the week ahead.

And we have to find our own unique way which works for us.

I enjoy working and being productive. I know I am a Weirdo. Many people have commented so. For some reason unknown to many (even to myself), I am the happiest when I am working productive. As such, I never understood the need to unplug for 2 full days in a week and settle into the rhythm of household hassle. I tried for 30 years and it didn’t work. So, I figured I should just do what works for best for me.

Since every Household Weekend is filled with social interaction and conventional television remote control warfare and that drains my mental energy, I have to restart my engine by early Monday mornings in order to prepare it for a productive week.

Over many years of personal experimentation, I found this one method that works best for me.

In fact, not just for me.

Many of my friends and business connections have asked me previously on tips for a productive Monday and I shared my start-of-week routine.

While some never tried, a vast majority said their productivity levels on Monday has shot up ever since.

Here goes.

My alarm goes at 545am as this is my best waking hour it seems. I was able to spring out of bed the moment when the alarm bell goes.

I would race to the kitchen to get all the clothes in the washing machine and start lacing up for morning walk.

Then I would head to the edge of my apartment to take a look at an elevated view of the physical environment around me.

I would breathe normally and take a snapshot with my eyes.

Then, I would head up to the highest level of the building.

At Level 29, the view of the neighbourhood would change drastically.

This serves as a constant reminder to myself that I need to take a bird’s eye view on my Life Journey, goals and aspirations.

There are too many times when we got too caught up with our tasks at hand and we lose sight of the big picture.

I have to keep reminding myself not to veer off-course and this method works wonders for me.

When I am at Level 29, I would take multiple deep breaths to anchor in the morning view-in-sight as well as the silent recognition that it is time to re-calibrate for the week ahead.

After 10 deep breaths or so, I would head downstairs for a morning walk.

Morning walks has been a staple for me since a couple of years ago as I figured that I needed a way to clear my mental fog before the start of the day.

While I might miss the daily routine on other weekdays — This is a must for every Monday.

Let me explain why.

My mind is in constant internal chatter mode over the course of the weekend. Many thoughts would permeate my mind.

Sample examples as follows: -

Business Mind: Can we lower the cost of customer acquisition via Social Media?

In-Need-of-Revenue Mind: There are 5 prospects to follow-up on. How do I get their attention and bring them to a closing discussion?

Hungry-for-Books Mind: I need to read “The New Case for Gold” again to clear the mental block of measuring base money M2 against the total quantity of Gold available.

Financial Mind: Shinzo Abe resigned. How does that change the direction of “Abenomics” and what the Bank of Japan will do in terms of Monetary Policy? Is it time to buy Japanese stocks?

It goes on and on.

My mind produces thoughts bubbles at a speed that even I cannot keep up as I work on them over the week.

Over the weekend where I have been mandated by my family to stay off my working desk, all I could do is to type my thoughts into the “Reminders” application in my Smartphone in order to remind myself to work on them first thing this coming Monday morning.

While all these thoughts are formed over the weekend, they go deeper when I revisit them.

This happens during Monday morning walks.

It is then I would open my “Reminders” application as I walk and bathe myself in the refreshing morning Sun.

Then I start thinking.

“Okay, I need to work on lowering my cost of Customer Acquisition. I need to arrange a meeting with Stanley and study the feasibility of social media for this purpose.”

Once I have a clear view on the next steps in terms of execution against that reminder, I would clear that reminder once I triggered an email to my business partners and myself.

And I am constantly watching for the changes in my neighbourhood.

I would routinely greet the elders I meet every morning at the fitness square before doing my pull-ups.

I would also study the advertising brochures, banners, posters peppered all over the neighbourhood.

Sometimes, they trigger a thought in me that I would never have when I am stuck at my working desk.

“I never knew that marketing campaigns can be executed in this fashion!”

Thoughts like this triggers the first wave of thought processes on Mondays to be worked on for the week.

I would also speed up towards the end of the walk as that elevates the number heartbeats per minute, leaving me in an excited and motivated state as I journey back to my working desk.

This is like compressing a spring-coil to its maximum.

This energy is then released the moment I get to my working desk.

The trick here is not to wait.

I would head straight head to the working desk, switch on the laptop and start typing away.

That would be around 630am / 645am.

Sometimes 7am / 715am.

While the laptop is starting up, I would quickly grab my notebook so I could pen down all my thoughts over the weekend PLUS all the actionable To-Dos that need immediate attention.

Once I am done with scribbling and the laptop is ready for me, the momentum is set.

Not just for Monday.

For the entire week.

How do you start your week on Mondays?

Related Stories from the Author.

About the Author:

As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.

Because simplicity adds value.

Simplicity helps us gain clarity, and clarity helps us to grow.

And if we are not growing, then what’s the point of anything else?

What do you think about the article? Comment Below!

This is more about me as a Content Contributor on Medium.

Do reach out and say hi on Linkedin!