The first day of the week is always the worst. We've heard of Black Monday and Blue Monday and, let's face it, no one ever says that Friday sucks. Everyone hates Mondays, even Garfield, and cartoon cats don’t have to go to work or school so maybe there's something else bad about it? Something in the air that makes Monday worse than any other day of the week?
Sadly not, it really is just the end of the weekend and the start of the working week that makes us all feel so down. When you are on holiday, Monday is just like any other day. So we need to work out how to cope with those Monday morning blues, but at least we know we're not alone.
The Boomtown Rats even recorded a song about disliking the start of the week. Seeing as so many of us agreed with the sentiment of the title and loved the song’s melody, I Don't Like Mondays went to number one in 32 countries, despite the fact it was actually about a school shooting. When asked why she did it, Brenda Ann Spencer said, "I don't like Mondays; this livens up the day". That’s definitely not a recommended Monday coping strategy.
Tips on How to Love Monday
If you want to improve your Mondays, a far better solution would be to limit your Sunday lie-in and not stay up too late that evening. No matter how difficult this seems, it keeps your body clock on an even keel and makes it slightly easier for you to get up early on a Monday morning. Writing a to-do list is always a good way to start the week too. Especially if the first item on your list is "write a to-do list", as you can then cross the first thing off straight away!
Doing something on a Monday evening that you can spend the day looking forward to is a great idea, but we’re not always in the mood if our weekend has been busy. A more achievable way of perking up your day is to wear something nice at the start of your week. Why not pick your favourite work outfit and save it for Mondays? That way, the day might be grim but at least you’ll look fabulous and you may even get some compliments.
If you don’t like your job, perhaps a more long term strategy is in order. Why not start looking for another job or research a career change? After all, if you love your work, Monday would probably be something to look forward to. At the very least, why not use some of that time at the start of the week when you never get any 'real' work done to do something to cheer someone else up? You could email your mum, or maybe get back in touch with an old friend.
If all else fails, just remember that it’s only 4 days to go until Friday's here!
Image viaSub-Urban’s Flickr