This is the approach to productivity that popularized itsmarisajo / TikTok TikTok is a blogger by Marisa Jo. Its essence is to do as little work as possible on Mondays and take responsibility for the minimum necessary tasks, devoting the rest of the day to what makes you feel good.
At first glance, giving up hard work on Monday seems like a bad idea. After all, the world doesn't care that we're tired and overloaded—we still have bills to pay, work to do, and problems to deal with. So relaxing on the first day of the week is just not an option.
However, the lack of respite inevitably leads to burnout. Minimalistic Monday suggests prioritizing a healthy work-life balance and working not with desperate tenacity, but wisely, crossing items off the to-do list and not forgetting about your mental state.
Of course, life is full of surprises, but usually on Friday we already know roughly what awaits us next week. Therefore, before you leave work and immerse yourself in the weekend, take the time to plan. Think about what you have to do and how you can make your life easier.
For example, if you know that Thursday will be a particularly busy day and you will be free late, you can prepare dinner in advance or order delivery. Or, if you need to complete many small tasks during the week, for example, send letters or call customers, you can group them, allocate a morning or half a day and deal with everything in one fell swoop.
A ready-made plan will help you calmly get to work on Monday, without worrying about the coming week.
One of the main reasons for burnout is that we don't get enough rest. We never really disconnect, we continue to respond to messages from colleagues after hours and allow work tasks to occupy our thoughts for free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That is why it is important to allow yourself to relax before and after work. Morning and evening rest gives you the reboot you need to solve the tasks for the next day.
Find activities and hobbies that help you "reset" and recover, and add them to your daily routine. It is better to put the phone away for this time, otherwise you will not be able to really disconnect. Before work, eat a healthy breakfast and exercise to feel a surge of energy, and then do something funny with your own hands, read a book or watch your favorite TV series.
There is no "good" or "bad" way to relax. Choose what suits you best.
Long to-do lists can seem tedious. The way out is to sort tasks by urgency and importance. For example, with the help of the Eisenhower matrix, which suggests dividing tasks into four categories: urgent and important; non-urgent, but important; urgent, but unimportant; non-urgent and unimportant.
Urgent tasks are those that need to be completed first or by a certain deadline, and important ones can be postponed until you get to them. For example, making a presentation today at 17:00 is important and urgent, and preparing a report by the end of the month is important, but not urgent.
Such an organization of the to-do list will not only simplify it, but also free you from unnecessary stress. What needs to be done will no longer seem so overwhelming, and you will cope with everything much faster than you think.
This time management method is especially useful for those who want to combine career, personal life and leisure, but have no idea how to keep up with everything. It consists in allocating a certain amount of time for each task or group of similar tasks. When you have clear blocks in your schedule, you don't waste time switching between tasks, stay focused longer and do everything quickly and efficiently.
Time intervals can be allocated for everything you do during the day, including not only work chores, but also lunch break, as well as morning and post-work chores. Plan the most difficult tasks according to your chronotype: if you are a lark, put blocks for them in the morning, if an owl — in the evening.
After all, not everything is under our control. Some Mondays will be more difficult and busier than others, and that's okay. All you can do is stay flexible, be prepared for surprises, and be able to go with the flow as much as you can.
A healthy and productive minimalistic Monday can help you achieve success, but it should not affect the rest of the week. If something went wrong, don't let one bad day set the tone for the rest.