Tag Archives: monday

20 Tips for a Killer Monday

Sometimes Mondays can be a real bummer, here are 20 tips to help get the day off on the right food!

I think most of us can agree that Mondays can be difficult. Whether it’s because you spent the entire weekend curled up on the couch watching movies, or outdoors at the beach, getting back in the work mindset can be difficult. Here are 20 tips to make your Monday better!
Photo Credit - License - Photo was Edited

Photo CreditLicense – Photo was Edited

Set your coffee maker up so that it starts brewing a few minutes before you wake up. This way, when you begrudgingly crawl out of bed you’re delicious hot coffee will be waiting for you. Sometimes that’s all the motivation you need to get moving.

Choose to wear your favorite outfit, shoes, or favorite hairstyle. When you look hot, you feel hot – this will help put you in a better place to start the day.

Favorite breakfast healthy breakfast on Monday morning? Yes, please! Maybe there’s a new oatmeal that you’ve been dying to try or a new crusty bread to dip in your eggs, whatever the breakfast is, making it on Monday morning will make you look forward to waking up and getting your day started.

Be sure that on Sunday evening, you take the time to get yourself organized for the week ahead. Starting the week, not knowing what you’re in for can be extremely overwhelming and would put anyone in a bad mood.

Wake up a few minutes earlier than normal. Having the time to stop and smell the roses, so to speak, will lead to a much more relaxed day.

When it’s time to hit the shower on Monday morning, why not make it an aromatherapy shower? A personal favorite of mine, is the citrus scent. The scent of citrus can help you feel refreshed, happy and ready to take on the world. Sounds like a good place to start.

Love to workout? Do your workout first thing in the morning. It will leave you feeling energized, plus you won’t need to worry about doing it once you get home from work/school/running errands.

Start looking forward to your next weekend, by making plans. We really shouldn’t rush our days by, but if the only way you’re going to make it through Monday is by making plans for the next Saturday, there’s definitely no harm in that.

If you work outside the home, sitting down at your desk and diving right into the hardest work for the day, can lead to some serious stress! Why not start your work day by going through email, reading any outstanding articles or newsletters or networking? It might seem like you’d get less work done in a week, but by taking it easy on Monday morning, you start your week relaxed with low stress, which leads to a more productivity for the remaining week.

I think a large majority of people who work outside the home, schedule any fun lunch dates for Fridays (myself included). Why not schedule lunch with that friend you haven’t seen in ages on Monday? It will give you something to look forward to and make your transition from lazy weekend, to busy work day, easier.

Does your week start out with a tough meeting or an intense deadline? Try moving those dates to later in the week, this way you aren’t starting your week on a stressful foot.

Roll with whatever Monday will bring. Sometimes even the best laid plans get screwed up, so don’t beat yourself up for what you can’t control, accept it and move on.

If you’re a stay at home mom, or work at home mom – try taking the kids to a playground early in the morning. They’ll get the opportunity to run and get some energy out, and you’ll have the chance to take a deep breath and prepare for everything the week holds for you.

Make a gratitude list. Some days, no matter what you do, you just can’t seem to focus on anything but the negative. Try to take 15 minutes and make a list of everything that you have, that you are thankful for.

Be positive! Even if you’re not totally feeling it, put on a happy face and spew positivity. I can almost guarantee that after acting this way for a few hours, you’ll start to actually feel this way.

Make someone else happy. Plan to do something thoughtful or generous for another person, the satisfaction you’ll feel from making someone else’s day will definitely lift even the most rotten of moods.

Get in a few good laughs. When you’re feeling awful and super stressed, take some time to talk with a funny friend and get in a good belly laugh. Just the act of laughing will help lower your blood pressure (thereby lowering stressful feelings) and will lift your mood.

Take small breaks throughout your day. Sometimes going from the relaxing vibe of the weekend, to the stressful one of Monday can be too much to handle, by taking a 5 minute break here or there to take a quick walk or get some fresh air, you’ll be helping your body to relax.

Read some inspirational quotes. There’s is nothing more motivating than popping onto Instagram (you can follow me here) and reading some motivational quotes to make the Monday blahs go away.

Figure out why you have Monday blues. Is it time for a career change, or time to take on a new assignment?

There you have it, 20 great tips to have a killer Monday!

Your turn!

Please share your tips or tricks to make it through even the toughest of Mondays, in the comments below.

signatureIf you want to start your Monday off on a generous foot and want to support cancer research, donate to my ride. I’m riding for Roswell Park Cancer Institute and their Ride for Roswell. Anything will help me reach my goal, and further advance cancer research. Just click HERE to donate.

Weekly Wishes – Monday Monday

Oh yes, it is Monday and that means, Weekly Wishes!

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

I’m super excited to write this post this week, it’s actually Sunday night, I’m writing it early, that’s how excited I am. Why you might ask? Well I have lots of success to share, but we’ll get to those in a minute. First, I figured I’d tell you about my weekend.

Saturday I had to work for a good chunk of the day, but it was quiet and I got a lot done, which made the time fly by. When I got home, Emmett was still sleeping from his nap so Seamus and I watched some TV and relaxed. It was lovely! Eventually Emmett woke up and we headed out for our weekly dinner out, that turned out to be a HUGE disappointment.

We get stuck in a rut, so instead we tried something new, Campobello’s. I really wanted to like it, but neither of us found it very desirable, even Emmett didn’t eat his ravioli and he ALWAYS eats ravioli. I had eggplant parm, the eggplant was very bitter and the sauce was too chunky for me. Seamus had steak and seafood. He said his steak was decent and his seafood pasta was okay, but not something he was super impressed with. The waitress brought us boxes to take the leftovers home in, we filled the boxes and then left them on the table, hoping no one would run them out to us (no one did).

Sunday, was a day full of relaxing, and it was just lovely. Emmett was up early but we got some cuddle time in before we got up and made pancakes, eggs, and bacon, together. After that, I did some laundry, cleaned the bathroom and spent a good long time on the couch until we all went to the gym. Emmett and I went to swimming, and Seamus went for a run. Afterwards, we made a quick stop at Wegmans for some stuff for lunch and dinner, and then back home for naps and relaxation. I spent a good chunk of my evening dozing on and off on the couch, it was heaven!

weekly-wishes-monday

Emmett had his first lunchable today! They’re so bad for you, but once in awhile as a treat won’t hurt. He really enjoyed it!

Last Week’s Wishes

My first wish from last week was to work on getting my chores done throughout the week, so that I wasn’t overburdened on Sunday. Success! I did some laundry on a couple of days, and any time Emmett would take a new toy out, we’d put the other one away. It led to only needing to do a few things on Sunday.

Next up was to start reading my new book. Yet again, another success! I began reading A Story Unfinished – 99 Days with Eliot, (that’s an affiliate link) and am just about halfway through. More to come on this book in the future!

And finally, I wanted to get my FitBit fixed. It’s not fixed yet, but I did send all of my info to the FitBit people and they’re reviewing my case to see if they’ll send me a full replacement or just replace the back that is cracked. We’ll see!

This Week’s Wishes

  •  Do some batch blogging. I was reading Chasing Happy the other day, and came across her post about increasing blogging productivity, and this batch blogging really resonated with me. So, I want to take a couple hours at some point this week and just sit down and write. Once I have posts completed, I can add pictures after the fact. I’d love to get ahead!
  • Add some additional posts to my editorial calendar. I got a good start in early January, but I’m starting to run short on ideas. I need to sit down come up with some more post titles and then add them to the calendar.
  • Finish up the book I’m reading, A Story Unfinished.
  • Complete chores ahead of time, leaving Sunday as mostly a rest day. This worked so well last week, I want to stick with it again.

Alright, I think that about does it for this week. I’m really excited about getting started on my goals this week!

Please join me in linking up at The Nectar Collective.

The Nectar Collective

Your turn!

What fun things did you accomplish in the past week? Please feel free to share in the comments below!

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Happy Monday!

I am still off on maternity leave so it being Monday is no different than it being Saturday or Sunday — so it is indeed happy! 🙂

Over the weekend I decided to make Zucchini Quiche Cornbread. I found the recipe on one of my absolute favorite blogs, Healthy Tipping Point. If you don’t read Caitlin’s blog, I sincerely recommend you start! She is highly inspirational, motivating and very down to earth, I look forward to every post she makes.

Anyhow, back to the quiche!

I found the recipe on her blog, here. I was excited because I love quiches and having just had a baby myself, I have been looking for something quick and easy to make for breakfasts, especially for those mornings when Baby Doodah refuses to let me put him down. This was perfect and tastes absolutely amazing!

The only change I made to her recipe was that I made mine in a square 8x8x8 cooking pan because I don’t have a cast iron skillet and it worked out just fine. It took about 10 minutes longer to cook but it really is delicious! To reheat, I just threw it in the microwave for a minute and it was just warm enough, I added a nectarine and some OJ for a perfectly filling meal!

Not sure what the rest of the day will hold for BD and I but I’m hoping it will include a walk because we’ve been having outstanding weather here in Buffalo and I want to take full advantage.

What are your plans for this beautiful end of Summer day?

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