Mondays can either be delightful or dreadful. What side do you land on?
Much like a famous grumpy cat who loves lasagna once said, “I hate Mondays”. From time to time, we may all feel this way. Whether it be after a vacation, a holiday, or just every start of the week, Monday has found a way to affect us all. Some people can be very optimistic to start a new week and conquer some goals. Coffee in hand they are ready to take on the world. Of course, there are the rest of us who may need to tell Tuesday to really get a grip on the week. It happens to the best of us.
Monday can be a day that will find a way to conquer some of us. The fact is most of us use the weekend to catch up on sleep or run those errands we can’t run while being at work like grocery shopping or cleaning up the house. That in itself can be exhausting so having only two days to do so and then getting back to waking up early to work can be a struggle. We all love sleeping in. It’s the best part of the weekend. Not having to constantly hit the snooze button to get just a little extra shut-eye is very satisfying to really anyone.
Sleep affects us in a lot of ways. It affects our mood, our focus, and our overall health. Not getting enough sleep over the weekend will make you dread an upcoming workday, especially a Monday. Sure, we all want to get the most out of our weekend and actually enjoy it, but not at the risk of dragging ourselves out of bed for work on Monday.
You can feel even more of the Monday blues when you see your co-worker bright and feeling fresh as they walk into work. No one wants to see that while they are struggling. You start to compare yourself to others and wonder why you can’t hang as well as they can. The thing is that as we get older, we tend to want to go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier. It is just our natural progression as we age. So is the fact that we get tired and lose that ability to rally after no sleep. We are not all 20 years old anymore. We are responsible adults with responsibilities and a career.
No matter what way you look at it, you must conquer Mondays instead of letting them conquer you. You may be asking yourself how would you do this? What is the way to be like Joe or Sally and be able to cheerfully walk into work no matter what day it is? The obvious first step is what we have already been talking about, sleep.
Making sure you get a healthy number of hours of sleep is going to be your best weapon against having the Monday blues get you down. When doing so, you want to set yourself up with a sleep schedule. This will help you schedule your time to get to sleep and help you get into a routine of sleeping at a better time. You can also make sure you avoid any type of caffeinated drinks after 5 PM. This also includes even drinking energy drinks in the morning.
Honestly, energy drinks can be the worst thing you can drink to try and get an extra boost of much-needed oomph. The sad thing with energy drinks is that they can end up coming back later at night, causing that energy to spike again and keep you up later than you want. You also end up getting those dreaded caffeine headaches that no one wants to deal with.
Another thing you can do to avoid being affected by the Dreaded Mondays is an exercise in the morning. If you are already getting enough sleep, you will have the energy to exercise. Exercising will give you endorphins that will give you a boost of energy and lower stress for your day. Most people tend to work out in the mornings to help with work stress and keep their mental health issues to be less at risk for attack. This will also give you much more mental focus to keep on track with your work and career success.
One thing many people forget to do is have a healthy and hearty breakfast. They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and there is a reason for that. Breakfast is essentially breaking a fast that you have had from dinner to when you wake up. Your body needs food for nutrients, energy, and overall fuel for the day. Making sure you are eating healthy and low-sugar foods in the morning will prevent you from crashing later in the day and having to pick yourself back up again. Eggs, bacon, or really whatever you enjoy for breakfast that is within your healthy diet will be the perfect way to get a leg up on the day. This isn’t just important for a Monday, but important for any day of the week.
Lastly, you can prevent yourself from falling into the deep hole that is the Dreaded Mondays is by finding a way to enjoy the morning and work commute before you start your workday. A way to do this is by listening to an audiobook, podcast, or music while you are getting ready and, on your way to work. These are great to help you get more ready for the day because they will stimulate your mind which will also help your body feel less stressed and relaxed. Most people enjoy listening to audiobooks and podcasts instead of music because it helps them get their minds more into productive thinking due to the learning or even help their brain get more into a critical thinking mood.
Doing these steps of course will depend on you. It will depend on what works for you, or what you feel most comfortable with. The best thing to take away from this article is to look at this as a springboard towards feeling better and feeling great about the start of your workweek. It is hard for all of us but with a better grasp on it, you will never have to worry about a Dreaded Monday again.
