60 Minutes Monday Morning: Start Without Meetingsdaily

This is a daily routine for shaping your week. Use “60 Minutes Monday Morning: Start Without Meetings” to realign the rhythm of everyday life.

Monday morning meetings only make you feel 'busy', and important work gets pushed to the afternoon. When you start your day with a pile of emails and Slack, it's easy to let the whole week go by in reactive mode. Regardless of your team size, you can start by putting 60 minutes without meetings on your personal calendar. That time is not an empty space for others; it is your own block that guides the direction of your week.

Things to do in 60 minutes

Write down your three priorities for this week. I'll just organize the one thing that was left unfinished from last week, and boldly postpone the rest to the next slot. Email and Slack are processed in 15-minute batches after 60 minutes. The goal is to get one chunk of deep work done, or at least have a ‘direction for the week’ on paper. I don’t try to do it all in 60 minutes.

Share with your team

If you write 'Focus 9-10 am' in your status message, it's easy for your colleagues to avoid meetings at that time as well. The key is to repeat this at the same time each week. Leaving it blank just once has little effect, and by the third week you'll have the sense that 'Monday mornings are mine'. Even if your team culture is busy, you can keep your own personal calendar.

realistic adjustments

In Friday's 10-minute review, write down 'one thing to do in 60 minutes next Monday' in advance. Monday morning 'What should I do?' The moment you think about it, your concentration is already gone. Five minutes of prep the night before will keep your Monday block in check. Not dragging work on the weekend also makes Monday mornings lighter. If you write down one thing for next week on Friday, Monday will be more of a continuation rather than a start.

connect with friday

In Friday's 10-minute review, write down 'one thing to do in 60 minutes next Monday' in advance. 'What should I do on Monday morning?' The moment you think about it, your concentration is already gone. Five minutes of prep the night before will keep your Monday block in check. Not dragging work on the weekend also makes Monday mornings lighter.