Hello,

Last week, I asked you to try the Monday Morning Test—imagining yourself at your desk Monday at 9 a.m. and noticing what your body told you.

Many of you described that familiar tightness in your chest, the knot in your stomach, or what one colleague called “that Sunday evening dread that starts creeping in around 4 PM.”

You’re not imagining these sensations. Your body is giving you data.

What I'm Learning About Body Signals

Over the years, I've discovered something fascinating: the body doesn't lie.

Those physical manifestations—shortness of breath, faster heartbeat, tension in your shoulders—aren't just random anxiety. They're your internal alarm system signalling that something fundamental is out of sync.

When we consistently ignore these signals, we gradually disconnect from our authentic selves. We learn to function in a state of chronic misalignment that we mistake for normalcy.

The Weekend You vs. Monday You

Here's what fascinates me: Most of us wake up Saturday mornings feeling curious, even enthusiastic. I'm personally full of energy, ready to tackle creative projects, such as repotting plants, experimenting with recipes, and solving household puzzles like finding a child's missing outfit.

But by Sunday evening? That creative spark dims.

The weekend version of you isn't some indulgent fantasy. That's actually you. The real you, without the constraints of a role that doesn't quite fit.

What I'm Working On This Week

This week, I'm tackling one of the most practical chapters yet: communication strategies that actually work in bureaucratic environments.

It's fascinating research. We spend enormous amounts of time communicating at work, yet so much of it feels ineffective. I'm exploring why expressing what we actually need feels so difficult in corporate settings, and what happens when we learn to be more direct.

There's a particular framework I'm testing that completely changed how I approach workplace conversations. It's about intent before impact—mapping communication to specific outcomes rather than just information transfer.

Early experiments are promising, but I'm still refining the approach.

Your Body's Intelligence

This week, I invite you to become a researcher of your own physical responses:

Notice your energy patterns. When do you feel most alive? When does that aliveness start to fade?

Pay attention to your communication frustrations. When do you find yourself avoiding difficult conversations? What does your body do in those moments?

Track Sunday evening shifts. What happens in your body as Monday approaches?

Your body is giving you information about alignment—or misalignment. The question is: are you listening?

What patterns are you noticing? Simply reply to this email—I read every response.

More discoveries next week,

Inès

P.S. Next week, I'll share what I'm learning about "role absorption"—how our professional identities gradually consume our personal ones in ways we rarely notice. It's more common than we think, and recognising the pattern is the first step toward reclaiming who you are underneath the job title.

Follow my journey as I write about working with purpose rather than just productivity.