Batching Unpleasantness (aka "Pile-It-On Mondays")

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I'm a person who finds a lot of value and peace in maximizing the time I have to myself, to relax, spend time with my family, etc.

I'm also a person who thrives on routine.

And we know that, generally, most people find Monday to be the hardest day of the week, when we have to face reality having just had some extensive free time.

As a result of this, I've developed a tactic I like to call "pile-it-on Mondays".  I make Monday the day that I do ALL of the weekly recurring tasks that I have (i.e., paying bills, meal planning, opening/handling mail, reviewing my task list for the upcoming week, blocking off time in my calendar to handle my task list efficiently, etc.)

While, at first glance, it may seem like this tactic is a recipe for disaster and burnout, I can assure you it's the opposite.  What happens is this:  I'm already prepared for Monday to be, not necessarily a bad day, but a day when I've got to get back to reality, put my nose to the grindstone, etc.  And I take advantage of that mindset and momentum to accomplish everything I need to do on a weekly basis (vs. daily, monthly, etc.) all at once.

This leaves me not only with a huge feeling of accomplishment each week (and the accompanying dopamine hit), but also with a sense of peace that the rest of the week will be much more free.  I don't need to dread after-work tasks all week by spreading them out; I just get them done all in one fell swoop.  It's sort of similar to tackling your most challenging task at the beginning of the day, but for the week instead.

Does this mean Monday is a bit of a slog?  Yes, but it was going to be anyway.