It’s Sunday night: 8:30 PM. You have just finished your carb loaded dinner and unbuttoned your jeans in preparation for the Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream you so desire. You journey over to your lazy boy with mug in hand, plop down and extend those feet out as far as possible. You feel on top of the world and never more at peace. You put on a relaxing movie or TV show that will allow you to breathe easily. That sly smile on your face is so wide, almost saying “I’m high on life, don’t you dare bother me”. A few hours pass by and you drift off into a deep sleep.
Your dreams are loaded with exciting events that portray you as the hero your city deserves, and just as your about to accept the key to the city you are abruptly woken up by 3 short blasts that resemble bombs going off. You don’t know what could have what went wrong for this to happen. It’s 6:30 in the morning and then it hits you – it’s Monday. Your alarm has once again brought you back to reality and shown you that your high was only temporary. Your sly smile has turned into a forbidding frown as you step into the shower to try and wake up. You get dressed, make a (less than substantial) breakfast and begin your day.
We are so drawn to the theory that Monday is one of the worst days of the week. Why try to argue that? The statistics are overwhelming with people who view Monday as their least favorite day. It brings us back to reality, it takes the weekend away from us, and we now realize that we have to sit through 5 painful work days until we can have the weekend back in our arms. Think to this quote “A watched pot never boils”. Technically, this isn’t true. If you stare at the pot long enough then yes, it will boil. But it will feel as if time has slowed to a crawl while you’re watching it. 30 seconds feels like 30 minutes. This can also be applied to Mondays. We want the weekend so bad that we’re constantly looking at the clock for it to be true. It will happen, but you can’t force it. Stop looking at the clock, enjoy that you’re alive another day and indulge in whatever Monday has to offer.
Monday starts our week (technically Sunday does, but no one ever actually starts their week on Sunday). It is the day that can outline our whole week for us. Why would we want to do anything to screw with that? We shouldn’t be arguing at the water cooler of how Monday is awful and we just want to go home. We should be relishing in the fact that Monday is just another day to be great! We’re back to work; we’re making deals and getting things done, no need to be sorrow and sulky.
Here’s a stat for you: studies have shown that on Monday’s men are 20% more likely to get a heart attack and women are 15% more likely. Having a bad attitude and stressing out over the fact that it’s Monday isn’t going to lower that number. Stress is one of the leading causes for heart attacks, so why stress out over something you can’t even control? Why add to that terrible statistic? Stop complaining about Mondays and enjoy yourself.
Me personally, I have started to love Mondays. I may still complain about them the night before, but once it arrives I am excited to go to work and get back into my daily routine. I don’t see Mondays as the end of the weekend, I see it as the path to the weekend. Yes, I want the weekend as much as the next person, but I enjoy my time leading up to it. As stated before, Mondays get your whole week started and I am able to plan out what can transpire in the days following. I organize my calendar, I set appointments and I live in the moment.
There are many “scientific reasons” of why people view Mondays as the worst day. Whether it’s because they hate their job, or they don’t socialize as much. But these reasons are completely within our control. If you’ve read my previous blog you will remember the part about me telling you to stop saying yes. If you hate your job, you are the only one at fault. There’s no reason to be upset about a Monday if you’re happy, and only you can
be the judge of that. If you aren’t socializing as much on Mondays, that’s again, your fault. Don’t hide in the corner of your cubicle and wait for 5:00 to come. Get out of chair every now and then and go talk to someone. Ask them about their weekend and what they’re going to do next weekend. You can then, together, be happy talking about your upcoming plans and see how Monday is just a stepping stone to get there! Science is completely in our control – we dictate what our mind thinks and then our mind will make patterns out of that. Stop telling yourself that science proves Monday is the worst day. Science isn’t doing it, you’re doing it.
Like me, there are millions of people in the world who don’t have good weeks. Mondays offer us a chance to reset and have another go. We have another chance to finalize that sale or land the big promotion. There’s no need to get down on yourself for not performing up to the standards that you might set out for yourself. Even if you are to get fired on Friday, Monday provides you with an opportunity to get back out in the workforce and find something even better. Second chances don’t come around all that often, and being able to have one every week is a great feeling. Even if you had an amazing week, Monday gives you an opportunity to build on that and have an even better week. There is no reason you should be looking at Mondays with a poor eye if you can realize that they’re there for us to give it another go.
Even though you might want to change your attitude about Mondays after reading this, there will be those that don’t. So, Mondays will give you an opportunity to lend a helping hand to those folks. You can be the one to talk to them about how their weekend was or offer some help on a project. Helping another individual is one of the greatest things we can do as humans, and you have the chance to do that. You can help them be happy on Monday – tell them a joke, talk about their hobbies, do something that will make them feel better and turn this day around!
For a lot of us, we use the weekend to decompress. We are so beat and tired from the long week that we need 48 hours of uninterrupted mindless behavior. Then, when we return to work on Monday, we are bright eyed and bushy tailed. We are fresh and ready for action. That’s the great thing about the weekend, it allows us to regroup and get in the working
mindset. Even though it may not seem like it, the weekend prepares us for Monday; it’s
telling our minds to get ready to do it all over again. Why not accept that? We are so much more energized on a Monday then we are a Friday. This will give us all the more ability to work harder and smarter. Mondays can be grueling to get through because you just had those 48 hours off, but you’d be crazy to think you aren’t more aware than you were on Friday.
The main goal that everyone strives for at work is common in all of us – getting a promotion. Well, Mondays provide us with the best opportunity to get there. We are statistically more productive on Mondays. We have all those emails we need to answer and the projects we need to continue, so Mondays allow us to dive deeper into our work. Being productive is the #1 way to win your boss over. So, why would you want to be all negative on Mondays? Speaking to the 48 hours off again - we are so ready for Mondays and we need to be held accountable for that. We need to see the potential that Monday is offering to each and every one of us. It’s time to act and climb that ladder of success.
Yes, even the name “Monday” sounds a bit dull and tiring, but it’s not. It’s our opportunity to make something for ourselves. Enough of this B.S. attitude to start the week, we don't need that stress. Monday is just another day, and when you start looking at it like it’s a Friday or a Sunday then you will only be helping yourself. Stop moping and moaning like the world is coming to an end just because it’s Monday. Stand up, button those jeans and get to work!