The lovely Leanne from Loving Yourself to Health is back to share the Monday wisdom that changed her life. Read on – you can’t help but be inspired (even on a Monday).
There is something about a Monday morning that can bring about a fresh burst of anxiety. You open your eyes from sleep and remember that the weekend is very much over – and right ahead is a brand new week, full of tasks and actions and a much longer to-do list.
I shared my Monday morning anxiety patterns with some friends of mine, and was not surprised to find it was a really common feeling. Diets often start on Mondays, new goals, new intentions, new focus. Mondays seem to be the day that sets us up for the week and the pressure that arises can show up as overwhelm and anxiety.
Anxiety is formed from a focus on the future, it’s the unknown, mixed with the desire to get things done, the need to achieve, succeed (not fail) plus the pressure we put ourselves under. It can all swoop in and knock you off your feet before you’ve even had breakfast.
When I observed my workweek, I pretty much only felt content and ‘safe’ on Thursday and Friday. I also loved Saturdays and Sunday mornings, but from about 1pm on Sunday overwhelm for the coming week would creep in. Monday to Wednesday was often so busy my feet wouldn’t touch the ground. I would start mentally listing everything I needed to do for the new week, which always meant the rest of my Sunday evening disappeared and I had a complete ‘headspace-energy-zap’.
I realised that I was only grounded 3.5 days per week. I was losing half a week to anxiety, overwhelm and pressure, each week, over and over. I roughly calculated that around 240 half weeks or 120 weeks of my working career were lost. 30 Months. 2.5 years. Spent stressed out.
Lose the Anxiety & Dream Your Ideal Day
I created my ‘Day Dreamer’ sheet to help me to dream up one day at a time (keeping me present). The idea is that you complete the sheet before bed and take the intention for tomorrow into your dreams. There is science behind this, but explained simply, we take our intentions into our subconscious mind which is the part of our mind that ‘makes things happen’. When we sleep it’s pretty much the only time that our conscious mind (our chattering, worrying, planning mind) is quiet, letting the subconscious get to work.
Have you ever gone to bed unable to make a decision and you wake up clearer? Or you dream about something and it somehow becomes real? That’s due to the magic of the subconscious mind.
So, I stopped trying to plan out a WHOLE week on a Monday and just allowed myself 20-30 minutes of creative design before I went to bed each night, one day at a time.
This Day Dreamer allows me to create what my ideal day looks liked. I include exercise and rituals that I would love to achieve, my top 3 focuses, foods I would like to remember to nourish my body with and a gratitude list. So that when I wake up in the morning, I don’t get lost in a sea of to-do-list… instead I have already laid out my top focus points. Obviously the natural flow of your day might change when new things arise, but trust me when I say having it all planned out helps keep overwhelm at bay. Chaos LOVES a system!
Another important way I eased my Monday anxiety was by making Mondays my least busy day in terms of ticking things off the list like a mad thing. Doing so made my headspace clearer, I felt more motivated, creative, inspired and it meant there was less dread at the start of my week. Most people that I coach on this, say ‘I couldn’t do less on Monday’s as there’s too much to do’. I agree, but there will ALWAYS be jobs to do, always. But there won’t always be as many Mondays to cherish.
When I did less on a Monday – I would sleep in, take longer breaks, walk in nature, have a long soak in the bath, keep my diary clear – and the world didn’t end. I didn’t lose my job or my business. I just took a slower, more grounded climb into the week ahead. I think Mondays are now one of my favourite days.
My Day Dreamer is a free download – www.lovingyourselftohealth.com/day-dreamer I really hope you love it and it helps you create your own amazing day. If you aren’t doing a job you love and that is causing you a different kind of stress, please email me about what we can do to create a career that you love. Leanne@lovingyourselftohealth.com
‘Happy every day of the week’. Make each day special.
Lovingly,
Leanne x
P.S. if you can’t reduce the amount you have to do on a Monday, that’s understandable. But if you can’t slow down your tasks, you can still slow down your mind! Make an intention to slow down your thoughts, only think of today, breathe deeply and list all that you are grateful for. That works well too.
Connect with Leanne:
Website: www.lovingyourselftohealth.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/loveself2health
Twitter: www.twitter.com/leannemarieball
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lovingyourselftohealth
