If it’s Monday, it’s another Monday Moving Forward post, one of those in which I’m exploring ways (some allegedly better than others) to get unstuck, start the week on a positive note, or just make sure you’re not overly depressed on a Monday (since you get six more days in which you can be depressed, obviously).

So, another thing that works pretty well for me in the first day of the week is to renegotiate some commitments. Simply put, that means making peace with the fact that not everything on my agenda will be done during that day. Or not everything will be done at 100% capacity. Some tasks may be postponed, or broken down into smaller pieces. Other tasks may be juggled around during the day – for instance I can push in the afternoon some stuff that will not be that urgent – like writing down my daily article – and focus in the morning on things for which I need more mental clarity.

Renegotiating commitments is obviously a thing that can be done in any other day of the week. What it makes it then so special as a Monday unblocker?

Well, it’s about setting the theme of the week. Starting on the right foot gives me confidence and a sense of accomplishment. I found out, in time, that it’s better to tone down a bit, and get some things done – somehow, eventually, anyway – than to push forward and strive to cross off everything on the list, but go to bed tired and with a sense of being haunted by my own projects. It’s better to accept that some stuff may be re-adjusted, some tasks rewritten or moved around, but at the end of the day everything will fall into places and I can happily open a beer and think that I had quite a good day. Which, in turn, will unfold into a quite good week.

Which is exactly what I wish for you too.

Cheers!