Post-Thanksgiving Monday Starts This Week
Why your post-Thanksgiving momentum depends on the decisions you make today.
Thanksgiving is here. If you are anything like me, you are ready for the rest. Your team is feeling it too. The travel plans are set. The “Out of Office” auto-reply is drafted.
But we are also telling ourselves a comforting lie.
We convince ourselves that we can simply pick up where we left off next week. We assume we will remember the context of every project, the nuance of every unfinished task, and exactly where our focus needs to go.
The Optimism Trap
The truth is, we tend to be far too optimistic about our future selves and our teams
We imagine that the version of us returning on Monday morning will be refreshed, sharp, and disciplined. We picture our future self as a productivity machine, fueled by rest and gratitude, ready to attack the backlog.
But experience tells a different story.
The version of you walking in next Monday will carry the weariness of travel. Heavy food will still weigh you down, and disrupted sleep patterns will make your eyelids droop even after that morning coffee.
You will open your task manager, and it will feel overwhelming because you have lost the context for everything on your plate. You will look at a meeting on your calendar and forget why you even scheduled it.
And of course, there is email. Unfortunately, you checked it out of habit shortly after you woke up. You couldn’t do anything about it then, but now your mind is trying to juggle a fresh list of demands before you have even sat at your desk.
If you rely on your future self to have high willpower, you are setting yourself up to fail.
You don’t need to rely on willpower. You need a plan…and that starts this week.
Action Creates Motivation
We assume the break will reset our motivation. But as James Clear clearly demonstrates in Atomic Habits, motivation rarely precedes action.
Action creates motivation.
If you walk into the office next Monday without a clear path, you will stall. You will waste the morning wading through emails, trying to remember what matters. You will wait for a feeling of inspiration that isn’t coming.
Momentum creates the feeling, not the other way around.
Be Kind to Your Future Self
The most effective thing you can do this week is to make decisions for your future self while you are still attentive.
The reason we struggle to start after a holiday is usually ambiguity. When the path is undefined, the brain hits the brakes.
Before you shut down your computer this week, take a notecard and write down the three specific things you need to do first on Monday morning.
Do not be too ambitious. Be specific and start small. Allow yourself an easy win to build momentum.
Specificity Wins
Here is the difference between a plan that stalls and a plan that works.
Vague: Revise draft of new program proposal.
Specific: Review colleagues comments in the Google Doc draft, integrate suggestions, and read out loud for final review before sending it out for approval.
Vague: Prepare for meetings.
Specific: Review prepared notes in Obsidian for the 2:00 pm meeting covering student payment plans.
Vague: Review orientation documents.
Specific: Finish reading and commenting on sections X, Y, and Z. Estimated time: 90 minutes.
Leave that note on your keyboard. Your future self will thank you.
A Note on Email: If possible, do not make email your first task. If checking email is unavoidable for your role, write a note to yourself: “Review email, flag only what needs immediate attention, set a timer for 15 minutes.” Do not fall into the trap of doing low-value work just because it is in your inbox.
Clear the Path for Your Team
If you are prone to the optimism bias, your team is too.
They are also assuming they will come back ready to run. But like you, they will likely walk in unfocused, defaulting to the path of least resistance.
Yes, they will want to chat about their weekend. That relational time is good for culture so don’t kill it. But you need to provide a path back to performance once the coffee is poured and the long weekend recounted.
Don’t let them guess what matters. Clear the path for them before you leave:
Define the Monday focus now. Determine the single most important priority for the team’s return.
Schedule the communication. Draft a brief email or Slack message to be sent Monday morning. “Welcome back. Our only priority this week is finalizing the end-of-year report. We will have a 15-minute standing meeting at 8:30 am.”
Earn Your Rest
By defining your next steps now, you remove the friction of re-entry.
Real diligence isn’t just working hard; it is having the foresight to prepare for your own human limitations.
Your plan will be waiting on your desk. The motivation will show up as soon as you get to work.