10 tips to improve monday morning collage
Mindfulness

10 Tips to Improve Monday Morning That You Can Do On Sunday Night

Now, I understand that Monday isn’t going to be your favorite day, no matter how many life hacks you try, but here are 10 tips to improve Monday morning that you can do on Sunday night.  It may not be your favorite day, but it can at least be a good day!

10 tips to improve Monday morning

Let’s be honest, if you asked everyone in the world what their favorite day was, I’m sure NO ONE would say Monday.  It’s the day you dread, because it means the end of weekend playtime and adventures and the beginning of a grueling week of work.  

10 Tips to Improve Monday Morning that You Can Do on Sunday Night

The key words there are Sunday night.  These are all tips that will set you up for success if you do them before the week begins! 🙂  A little preparation and planning go a long way towards making your week more productive.

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A clean studio apartment with lots of storage and organization.

1. Tidy up your apartment

When I was growing up my mum always wanted me to clean my room.  In my high school days I always boycotted this advice, but now that I’m older I can see how beneficial it is!

If your apartment looks like a tornado relief site I guarantee you that you’ll be more stressed come Monday morning than you would be if everything was organized and put away.  

If you tidy up on Sunday night, you’ll spend less time Monday morning searching for things because everything is in its place.  Wouldn’t it be nice to quickly grab everything you need for working instead of having to spend so much time searching for things and stepping over piles? 

Since you’ll be saving time in the morning heading out the door with a clean apartment, you can use that time in other ways.  You could grab a little extra sleep, carve out some time for meditation, make a nice breakfast or even squeeze in a quick workout!

I am not a doctor or medical care provider and therefore cannot give medical advice.  Consult with your doctor before changing or modifying any health treatments. This information is not meant to replace professional medical advice.

An orange coffee cup with coffee beans in it.

2. Stop drinking caffeine so late in the day.  

Reducing your caffeine consumption late in the day can have a huge effect on how well rested you feel on Monday morning.  If you’re all hopped up on coffee or tea when you’re trying to go to sleep you’ll wake up feeling sluggish on Monday instead of refreshed.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, caffeine has a half life (meaning the amount of time it takes for your body to eliminate half of the substance) of 3-5 hours.  I normally stop drinking caffeine by 5:00pm to ensure my body will be ready to sleep around 10:00pm.  

If you consume caffeine at all during the day, there will still be some in your body when you go to sleep.  However, making sure at least half of it is out of your system before you go to bed will help facilitate more restful sleep.

Meal prep containers with three days of healthy food.

3.  Meal prep is key – Make your lunches for the week ahead of time.

Meal prepping is good on so many levels.  If you make lunch ahead of time, you’re saving time in the morning, meaning that you can sleep in longer (see a trend here?).  

Making your meals ahead of time also gives you the opportunity to make a healthy plan for the week.  Feeding your body right is a good way to maintain happiness, not just on Monday, but all week long!

If you have your lunch prepped for the week, you won’t be tempted to eat lunch out, which will save money.  It may not seem like a lot of money, but let’s do some math to figure out how much you could save.

If you eat out twice a week (at $15 a meal), in a month you would spend $120.  If you continue at that rate, in a year it would amount to $1,440!  With meal prepping you will save that money spent on eating out, and can spend it on something else that would really enrich your life!

A clean kitchen sink with running water.

4.  Do all the dishes BEFORE you go to bed. 

There is nothing worse in the morning than having to wash dirty dishes just to be able to make your breakfast.  Walking into a dirty kitchen is so stressful, and since you’ve followed my meal prep tip above and made all your lunches for the week you’re definitely going to have dirty dishes.  

Just imagine this scene: It’s Monday morning and you walk into your kitchen (only slightly sleepy since you stopped drinking caffeine Sunday afternoon at 4:00pm).  You reach for you coffee pot to fill it up in the sink and BAM – you can’t fit it in the sink because there are too many dirty dishes!!

Doesn’t that sound terrible?  Then you have to clean all the dishes before you can even have a cup of coffee, let alone make breakfast.  All of this is cutting into the time you could be spending on your morning routine.

Now, if you rewind that mental video and do the dishes on Sunday night, you can walk right into the kitchen (stress free) and make your coffee and get on with your day!

If you want to take it a step further you can even have your coffee already brewed by the time your feet touch the kitchen floor.  I swear by my coffee pot’s delay brew function – it allows me to prep it at night and set it for a specific time in the morning, so my coffee is ready when I am.

It might be tempting to leave the dishes in the sink on Sunday, but you’ll be so grateful on Monday morning to have a clean slate (and sink!).

Girl in a plaid colorful scarf

5. Pick out your outfit for Monday.  

This one might sound silly – can’t you just do it in the morning? …Of course, BUT if you pick out a really nice outfit that you like and style it with some cute accessories you’re going to thank yourself come Monday morning. 

If you look good throughout the day, you’ll feel good!  Plus, I’m sure people are going to compliment your fashionista style, and that will add a little joy to your Monday as well!

In addition to feeling happier, you’ll also eliminate a potentially challenging morning decision.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve definitely stared at your closet and uttered the phrase “I have nothing to wear!”. 

Choosing your outfit the night before will help cut down the early morning decisions before your coffee has kicked in.  It won’t take you as long to get ready in the morning or leave you with the potential to rush out the door only feeling half-put-together.  

A pen and paper to make a to-do list with tips to improve monday morning.

6.  Make a To-Do list.  

If you have a plan for the week, starting your tasks on Monday will seem much less daunting.  You’ll have a plan and know what to do first.  I’m such an advocate of “work smarter, not harder”.  A little planning goes a long way!

I like to physically write down my to-do lists, because crossing off items when I complete them is such a good feeling.  I always feel so accomplished!

There are many different types of journals that can help with making to-do lists, but my favorite, hands down, is the Productivity Planner

It helps you stay on track by not only creating a to do list, but also by ranking the items of the most importance and instituting a system that keeps you focused by only allowing you to work on one thing at a time.  It’s one of my favorite tools for increasing productivity.

Hands lathering up face wash in a sink.

7. For goodness sake, wash your face (even if you didn’t wear makeup).

I know we are all guilty of this one (myself included), being tired, and a liiiiiiiiittle bit lazy and not wanting to wash my face before bed.  I can’t even express how important it is to take the extra few minutes to wash your face.

Washing your face at night removes dirt, oil, sweat, dead skin cells, makeup, and any other products that have come in contact with your face during the day.  Having a clean face at night allows your skin to rest and renew itself overnight.  

Not cleaning your face before bed can result in acne, dry skin, sensitive skin, and tired looking skin.  You only get one body, you’ll thank yourself in 20 years if you treat your skin kindly!  A clean and hydrated face is a happy face!

In addition to washing your face, I highly encourage you to take a closer look at the skincare and makeup products you use.  It is just important to be aware of what we are putting on our body as we are of what we are putting in our bodies.

Sometimes quality skincare products can be expensive, but investing in you self (and your skin!) is one of the best investments you can make. 

Philosophy is one of my favorite skincare lines – it is gentle, super effective, and not outrageously pricey.  I use this face wash, day moisturizer, and night moisturizer religiously.

10 tips to improve Monday morning - power off electronics and computers

8. Power down your electronics.  

I love watching Netflix, checking my email, browsing the web and texting as much as the next person does, but I try to do those things earlier in the day.  If you’re texting/emailing/Netflixing right up until you go to bed you’re sending your brain signals to stay awake.  

Looking at bright screens before bed engages your mind and tells it to stay up!  Science News For Students affirms that the blue lights from our screens disrupt our circadian rhythm and disrupt sleep.

However, If you power down your screens before you go to bed you’ll be able to fall asleep faster, and have a more restful night’s sleep – leaving you to feel more refreshed on Monday!

A wall filled with bookshelves and books, a home library.

9. Read!  

Looking for an activity to take the place of your late night screen time?  Try taking fifteen or twenty minutes to read a couple chapters in a book, or a magazine (be sure to choose a physical book or magazine and not a tablet or computer to reduce late night screen time).

I often find that reading right before bed calms me, and I’m able to fall asleep much more quickly than if I just lay my head on my pillow and try to sleep.  Adding this relaxing activity to your Sunday night routine is a great way to quiet your mind and fall asleep soundly.  

If you want to nourish your mind even more, I suggest reading a book on mindfulness.  Reading a positive, uplifting, book right before bed puts you in a good frame of mind.  You can take that positivity into your sleep, dreams, and even wake up with it in the morning!

woman meditating during sunset on a tropical vacation.

10.  Journal and meditate. 

I recommend journaling nightly, in order to destress and cultivate gratitude.  Even if I miss a night or two during the week, I always make sure to journal on Sunday nights in order begin the week with a positive attitude and a clean slate.  

One journal I like to use is the 52 Lists of Happiness journal – it has one journaling prompt for each week.  Filling them out on Sunday night allows me to reflect on the past week and also look forward to the next week.

I suggest writing all the positive things you want to achieve and your hopes for the coming week.  The more energy you put towards something, the more likely you are to manifest that thing into your life.  Focusing on positive energy breeds more positive energy!  

After my Sunday night journaling, I turn to meditation.  Meditating is another thing I recommend doing on a daily basis.  I normally start my mornings with meditation, but on Sunday nights I also make sure to meditate right before bed.

You don’t need to spend a lot of time meditating to see the benefits of meditation.  Even 5-10 minutes of meditation can greatly improve your night.

Sleep meditations (meditations designed to be done as you fall asleep) on Sunday nights are a great way to wrap up the week.  I find that listening to them before bed permeates through my dreams and filters through to my upcoming week.

I also love meditating with crystals.  Use your intuition to choose a crystal that brings you joy.  There’s no right or wrong crystal to choose – pick the one that calls to you.  I love using Rose Quartz, for its gentle soothing energy, but often switch it up for what I’m trying to call in for the coming week.

Sometimes I want to improve my endurance and stamina for the week so I choose a more action driven stone like Bloodstone or Orange Calcite.

collage of 10 tips to improve Monday morning

I hope you have enjoyed reading my 10 tips to improve Monday morning, and will be using them this week to set yourself up for success!  If you have any other tips please leave them in the comments section, I’d love to hear your advice!  Have a great Monday!  

I’ve compiled a “shopping list” of a few things I really love that have revolutionized my Sunday night routine (and therefore my Monday mornings!).  Hopefully some of them can help you too!


Pin these 10 Tips to Improve Monday Morning

Would you like a reminder of these ways to improve Monday? Just pin this image to one of your mindfulness boards on Pinterest.10 Tips to Improve Monday Morning (that you can do Sunday Night) collage

Admin note: This post first appeared on the blog in July of 2015. I have updated the post to add more tips and new photos.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small commission from the sale, but the price is the same for you. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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