Starting a new week is an amazing chance for a fresh start. How you start your week can set you up for success or fail and put you in a bad mood.
If you wake up on Monday feeling excited about your week, you’ll have a better week overall. You can allow things to get you down or take steps to keep yourself feeling optimistic and prepared.
Doing something to uplift you or have a morning ritual on Mondays will help you feel more focused and motivated for the week. Below are a few tips that you can do to ensure you kickstart your new week.
8 Things You Can Do to Kickstart Your New Week
1) Reflect on Your Last Week
Reflecting on your last week is a great way to help you start your new week. You’ll want to take some time to sit down and think about how your week went. Ask yourself what you did right and what you can improve on next time. Reflecting on your actions and decisions will help you learn from your week.
To start, carve out some time to sit with your thoughts. Think about what your week was like. Did you accomplish the goals that you had set for yourself? Start asking yourself questions like “What am I proud of accomplishing this week?” or “What setbacks did I experience that I can learn from?”
Not only will you start to find what you did right but what you can improve on for next time. You may even start to realize patterns in your habits.
For example, you might realize that you were eating healthier which gave you more energy. But you also may notice that you were spending too much time on your phone. Once you start to identify these patterns you can make better decisions moving forward.
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2) Set Goals
Setting goals for your week is a great way to kickstart your new week. If you know what you want to accomplish, you’ll be more likely to do it. When you set goals, be specific about what you want to achieve. For example, don’t say your goal is to get in shape. Instead say your goal is to workout for 30 minutes three times this week.
That way you can physically check off when you’ve done your workout. When you want to start achieving your goals, try breaking your goal down into small tasks. If your goal is to finish a book this week, break your reading into daily tasks. Not only will your goal not seem as daunting but you’ll feel accomplished when you finish each task.
Write down your tasks in your planner or keep track of them digitally. Lastly, don’t be afraid to switch things up. Sometimes things come up and you aren’t able to do everything you wanted to. If that happens it’s perfectly okay to reassess your weeks goals.
Read Also: How to Change Your Life Starting Now – 8 Steps
3) Plan Out Your Week
Planning out your week is another great way to help you start your week. By planning out your week you’ll save yourself time and stress. You’ll be able to get everything done that you need to and relax and have fun as well. To plan out your week, start by writing down your priorities.
What do you need to accomplish this week? Write down anything from work tasks, errands, or even hang out with friends.
Once you have your priorities written down assign each thing a time to complete it by. Grab a planner, digital calendar or download a schedule planner on your phone. Map out what you need to do each day. Make sure you leave time for yourself as well. By giving yourself some downtime you allow your body and mind to rest.
Also, think about when you’re most productive during the day. Some people work better in the morning whereas others do not start waking up. If you know that you’re more productive in the afternoon, try to schedule your tasks during that time.
Read also: 7 Steps to Create an Achievable Personal Development Plan
4) Organize Your Space
Starting your week with an organized workspace is a great way to ensure you stay on track and stay focused. When your space is organized you’ll feel clearer and less stressed when you need to find things. To start organizing your space, clear off your desk.
Get rid of anything that you don’t use daily and only leave things that are necessary. Next, you’ll want to separate things into different categories.
For example, keep all of your writing utensils, notebooks, and computers in different piles or containers. You can even label these areas to help you during the day. Invest in some desk organizers such as drawers, trays, or binders to help keep things separated. Lastly, make sure that when you finish organizing you know where everything is.
You should also organize digital spaces as well. Take time to clean up your computer desktop and email inbox. Create folders for work projects and delete any unnecessary documents.
5) Prep Healthy Meals
Preparing healthy meals is a great way to kickstart your new week. By taking the time to meal prep at the beginning of the week you’ll save yourself stress from not knowing what to eat. You’ll also be less tempted to eat junk food on a busy weekday. When meal prepping you want to take your time and think about what you want to cook.
Try to focus on making meals with fresh ingredients. Maybe cook some quinoa or brown rice to use for grain bowls for the week. You can mix in cooked vegetables with the grain along with grilled chicken or roasted tofu. You can even prepare some healthy snacks to have for the week.
Try roasting some nuts or prepping some cut-up veggies. By using meal prep containers you can portion out certain meals. That way you have grab-and-go lunches to take to work or dinners you can heat up.
You can even try cooking a large batch of soup or stew for the week. Not only is this delicious but it’ll fill you up. Soup and stew can last you the whole week. Don’t be afraid to spice it up with different seasonings either.
6) Get Moving
Getting your body moving is a wonderful way to start your week. Exercising can help increase your energy and improve your mood. You don’t have to workout for hours to feel the benefits of moving your body. Here are a few types of exercise you can do.
You can go for a walk outside. Walk around your neighborhood or local park to get your heart rate up. Make sure you walk for at least 20–30 minutes to feel refreshed. If you don’t have time for a long walk, try jumping rope for 5-10 minutes.
This is a great way to get your heart pumping and burn some calories. Not only will you workout your arms by jumping rope but you’ll also increase your coordination.
If you like going to the gym you can look into classes near you. Yoga and pilates are great workouts that focus on your mental health as well. Not only will this keep you physically strong but you’ll also meet new people.
Exercise can also be done in the comfort of your own home. You can look up workouts online that you can follow along to. Whether you want to workout your core with bodyweight exercises or follow along to a HIIT workout you can find something that matches your skill level.
You can even fit these workouts into your morning or during your lunch break.
7) Stay Connected
Making connections with others is vital to your emotional and mental health. When starting your new week, think about the positive effects that calling a friend or family member can have. By speaking to someone you care about you are building a relationship.
By building relationships you allow yourself to decrease feelings of loneliness and stress. Not only will this give you someone to lean on when you’re having a bad week but it’ll make you happier overall.
You can even start by sending your friend or family member a text or calling them to check in. Ask them how their weekend was or tell them about something great that happened to you this week. Make time to listen to what they have to say as well. By understanding others you’ll be happier yourself.
You can connect with others through texting, emailing, and even video chatting.
8) Relax
Starting your new week doesn’t always mean being productive. It’s important to take time for yourself to relax and practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is when you clear your mind and focus on the present. Take 1-2 minutes out of your day to practice mindfulness.
You can do this by sitting down or laying in a comfortable position and closing your eyes. Take a deep breath in through your nose and fill your stomach with air. Hold your breath for 2 seconds then exhale out of your mouth. Repeat this process 5 times and you’ll start to feel rejuvenated.
You’ll clear your mind allowing you to refocus on the task at hand.
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