Marc Siden, the CEO of Cloud Water Brands, admits that he works eight days a week. Yet, despite his busy schedule, he finds time to pause, even if only to power through his to-do list later.
Read on for some of his best tips on facing the start of the week, staying motivated, and making Mondays less daunting. Here’s how Siden likes to Start It Sunday (and yes, drinking Cloud Water helps him jump-start his week).
Q: What does your Sunday routine look like?
A: The weekends are a great time to take a deep breath and decompress. You can go hard but it’s important to work smart. Many of us work continuously but take too many hours to get some things done. I think this is where decompression and taking time to rest come into play. I have a family, I adore my kids, and I always make some family time on Sundays — it takes me away from everything else. I do, however, believe that starting your week on Sunday is important.
The analogy I draw is that sometimes if you go into the office on the weekend and nobody is there, there is not the same stress and pressure you feel during the week when it’s busier. You are kind of on your own terms, and I think when we do things on our own terms, it feels better than being forced. I think the anxiety of Monday is a psychological build-up, and the way to get out in front of it and to control it is to hit it head-on.
For me, Sunday is the best time to think about what I want to accomplish for the week. I don’t write tons of notes but I start my to-do list.
Sunday is also an amazing time to send out emails to people who you want to speak to or set up meetings with because it goes into their inbox and is often the first thing they see on Monday morning. It’s good to start your week off with positivity. If you are a salesperson and you receive some responses early Monday morning, then you are starting your week with positive momentum. It takes any anxiety away.
Q: How do you approach the start of each workweek?
A: I meet up with the team every Monday just to ensure everyone is on the same page and that, if somebody is feeling overwhelmed, they have the support from myself or other team members. I like having a team stand-up first thing — getting everybody communicating, getting the juices flowing, and reminding team members that they are not alone and are building something special. Starting the week on the most positive note sets the tone for the rest of it. It’s something I’ve been doing for years.
Q: What are some tips for motivating on Monday?
A: If you have things to get accomplished, start chipping away at them and making sure that you are not starting your week with an uphill battle. We sometimes tend to look at the very top of the mountain and ask, “How the heck am I going to get to the top of the mountain?” Instead, look at the very first level you have to reach because you can’t get to the top without getting to that level first. This is where Sunday comes in: if you’ve created a to-do list — and I don’t care if it’s three things or 20 things — just go to No. 1 and get it done. I promise you, you will feel great that you are starting to chip away at it. Then you have number two and number three done, and, before you know it, you have taken this insurmountable daunting list and have learned that it was your mind that made it seem almost impossible. Once you dissect it, you realize it’s something that is actually really doable.
My advice is to pick up one project — just do one task to move the needle in a positive way, and then the momentum will carry the rest. And lastly, what I’ve heard is that a bottle of Cloud Water takes away the Sunday scaries for most people, so definitely incorporate it into your routine.
Learn more about Cloud Water’s story in our exclusive interview with Siden next week.
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