Oh yes. It’s Monday again. I know what that means. You are so excited! What? Not excited? Monday’s not your favorite day of the week? I’m shocked! Seriously, if we were to take an “unscientific poll” here I don’t know if anyone would select Monday as their favorite day of the week.

As a pastor, Mondays can be pretty tough. Here’s what I said on twitter a couple of weeks ago.

Today, for most pastors, is known as “Mack-Truck-Monday.” No matter how great Sunday was, you feel like you’ve been hit by an 18-wheeler!

Some pastors call it the “Holy Hangover,” I kind of like “Mack-Truck Monday.” Whatever you call it, I want to encourage you to make the most of Monday. Here’s how.

1. Face it head on. Many pastors I know decide to take Monday off. If that’s what you want to do, go for it. But I would advise you to make the most of your Monday. Don’t take Monday off – you feel terrible anyway, go to the office! Get a head-start on your week. Organize your work. Get your head on straight.

You can do it. Stand up to Monday. Don’t let it get you down. Don’t let it intimidate you. Face the dragon, slay it with all the fierceness you have. Don’t let Monday win anymore.

2. Plan for it. Monday is a day for planning. I plan for Monday and then Monday plans for the rest of my week. I spend a good bit of time on Monday planning. I plan for our leadership meeting that afternoon, I plan for my sermon preparation, I plan for meetings throughout the week, and I plan for events down the road.

Someone had said, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. When you plan for Monday, you can use Monday to help you plan. Believe me, this is big! It will help you with productivity and energy throughout the rest of the week.

3. Know where you are by Monday afternoon. Monday is not just a day that helps me look forward. It helps me look back too. In many ways, Monday is a review day. Before our leadership/staff meeting at 2:00 pm, I want to know all of our statistics and information from the previous Sunday. I created a simple spreadsheet and I call it my “Monday Morning Dashboard” that gives me a snapshot of Sunday.

I wrote a blog about how to discover and capitalize on the growth cycle that will define this a bit more for you. Simply put, I want to know where we stand in terms of offerings, attendance, and decisions before we meet together as a leadership team. I compare these numbers to the same week last year to see which direction we are heading. Monday gives me some time to look back and to look ahead. So, why would I want to waste that opportunity? Why would I miss that chance? I want to make the most of my Mondays.

There you go. Three ways to manage your Mondays. Now you go out there and beat Monday’s backside!