Gentle Monday

I think it would be fair to say it’s commonplace to dread Monday - to dread the start of another week full of effortful work that possibly isn’t a joy to tackle. I feel you, I see you, I get it.

For me, what used to make Mondays hard to look forward to was being overwhelmed by everything I wanted to accomplish that week. Without a clear plan of action or a defined creative process, I walked into Mondays feeling both excited for possibilities + immediantly discouraged by doubt in my ability to see it through by Friday. I would continue to persevere each day, but lowkey give up to the pressure of trying to do it all so quickly.

Fortunately, that has completely changed since I started embodying a slower lifestyle, became more intentional with my creative workflow, + built my Gentle Monday practice.

Gentle Monday, or startday — a soft + kind productivity ritual for starting the week off with clear intentions + a supportive space. Ideal for creatives, freelancers, + solo-entreprenuers.

Within our Gentle Monday morning, we’re flowing through grounding activities that fuel our trifecta — mind, body, + spirit — while preparing for the week ahead by making decisions in advance on what you will do + how you will spend your time. This will allow you to both ease into your week, set sustainable intentions, + be attentive to your creativity without having to spend your valuable energy on solving questions such as, “what am I going to eat?”

There are two main parts to Gentle Mondays, which is aligning + manifesting. I would dedicate at least an hour to this, but my own process usually takes about 5.5 hours, as you’ll see below. You do not have to do one part before the other - simply create a ritual based off these two elements that makes you feel excited to start the week.

AKA - ‘me’ time. This could be a single activity or a routine — whatever makes you feel good + allows you to step into the person you are becoming. It’s about quality not quantity! You just want to make sure that you prioritize your aligning activity so you can nurture you trifecta, starting your week strong. ie, hot girl walking or reading the paper

Here we’re gonna get more specific with our process. The tool that I recommend using is a planner, but you can also use any journal or notepad that serves you - you just wanna be able to use the whole spread. Divide your layout into four sections: appointments, meals, tasks, + free space. Follow the steps below to plan out your week in a gentle, yet supportive way.

Bonus: write down your affirmation for the week on a post it note + stick it somewhere you can easily see while working.

I’d like to note that if you are a 9-5er + don’t have the luxury of setting your own schedule, a wonderful benefit of this practice is that it’s not necessarily tied to Monday. Meaning, instead of doing Gentle Monday, you can do Gentle Sunday. You can make any day your gentle startday — it’s about defining + practicing what’s aligned to you + your lifestyle.

I would be lying if I said my Monday always looked like this. My Mondays are never the same. This is due to variations in when I wake up, or how well I slept, or how my chronic illness sits with me that day, or the passions that play in mind, or simply life happening around me — I could go on, but you get my point. Gentle Monday is a practice, not an absolute fail/pass assignment - I just make the decision to show up as best as I can.