Author Info: Blane has served on staff at AU Chi Alpha for several years and became the Director in the Fall of 2014. This New Mexico native is a proud graduate of the University of Alabama but has fallen in love with the big city. He and his wife (Hannah) moved to DC to complete the DC Chi Alpha CMIT Program under Mike & Jen Godzwa. They are parents to a pretty amazing toddler, Jeremiah. You'll find him biking around DC in search of a coffee by day and pouring over a book by night. You can find him at www.blaneyoung.com, and connect with him via our AU Chi Alpha Staff Page.
Originally a guest post on thecreativepunk.familylife.ws
NOTE: If you are reading this on another day of the week, you have two options. You can pretend that it is Monday or plan to redeem the upcoming Monday.
Everyone hates Mondays. Almost as much as they hate lines at Wal-Mart or having to go into the bank to make a transaction or losing their keys. It’s like it is an unwritten rule of the universe that humans and Mondays don’t mix. But think about it this way: If everyone has a low expectation for Monday, then strategically, it is a great time to shine when it comes to productivity. Here are a few tips to redeem Monday:
Do Something Before Checking Your Email
The dreaded yet important tool (or beast) of our day. Do something that is on your task list before you check your email. Because email will always take every minute of time that you give it and then ask for seconds. (A cheesy pun, I know)
Plan Your Week
Look at your upcoming tasks and projects and prioritize them based on deadlines and importance. Don’t forget to reconcile this list with the to-do’s that just didn’t quite get done the last week. The key to this tip is to be realistic. If you over plan or have ridiculously high expectations, then you are setting yourself up for a guilt trip.
Think About A Game-Changer
Take at least ten minutes to think and dream about a project or idea that would be game-changing. Particularly, something that would benefit both your organization positively and yourself positively. For me, I am working on a way to use Flickr as a hub for all of our volunteers that love photography to upload and store their files. (I stole the idea from Phil Bowdle and his sweet project called Exposure for Frazer UMC ) You don’t necessarily have to execute this idea or dream today, but start thinking about what has to happen for it to actualize.
Celebrate A Win
It doesn’t matter if it is big or small, celebrate a win from the previous week. Remind yourself why you took this job in the first place. And remember these simple but true equations:
Vision + Action = Running
Action – Vision = Crawling
Originally Published on October 11, 2010 • Short Link: http://bit.ly/29Ua6M5