Struggling with Mondays? Here’s How to beat the blues and start on a Positive Note
It isn’t funny how Monday shows up every week, and yet we’re never ready for it. If you ask me, even after 18 years of existence, I am still not able to gear myself up for this day. Getting back to mundane routine tasks after two whole days of rejuvenation—be it by catching up on all those sacrificed Zzzzsss or by hanging out with friends—is quite an ordeal. Oh, how I wish I could get one more day to prepare myself for Monday!
Despite my desperate longing, I have no choice but to go ahead with whatever Monday brings for me. Here are some of the things I do to make my Mondays less dreadful:
Start preparing the night before
To alleviate our Mondays of recurring anxiety, we should take certain measures the night before. Take a hot shower to soothe your body and calm your mind. Most importantly, sleep for a reasonably good duration so that you wake up feeling well-rested and are not groggy in the morning. Additionally, right before sleeping, recollect some of the moments from the weekend that brought you joy and note them down, if possible. This will evoke a sense of inner peace and satisfaction at the end of the day, carrying these positive feelings forward to the next day.
Restrain from making assumptions
I try my best not to predict that since it’s a Monday, it is bound to be terrible. I shift my perspective and affirm that it is a new day and a perfect opportunity for a fresh start. Even if something goes haywire, I tend to instinctively assume that Mondays are supposed to suck, but then I consciously think that a mix-up can happen on any day of the week, and there is no need to associate every bad thing with Monday.
Kickstart your day with positive affirmations even if they don’t seem to be true. At times I begin by saying, “It will be a great start to a new week”, “I will rock as usual”, etc. This helps us commence our day and ultimately, our week on an optimistic note and dispels our gloomy Monday blues to an extent. Manifestation should not stop here, it must continue throughout the day consistently to keep our spirits in check and to keep us from ruining our mood due to a single inconvenience experienced.
Inculcate something fun
After forty-eight hours of respite, it gets really challenging to muster up the strength to resume the routine hustle. A very recent example is this Monday. Although this Monday was not so packed, it still seemed really daunting and I wasn’t able to make the most of the day. So, as and when I am transitioning from a fun/sleep-filled weekend to the next week, I include something light in my routine. It can be as simple as going for an early morning walk while listening to music I love, going out for desserts after dinner, baking, having a dance session at home, or watching a comfort show. This helps me to cheer up and make my Mondays better.
Reflect on the past weekend
Whenever I am in low spirits, I reminisce about the good times I had with my friends or the new restaurant that I explored with my family. I revisit the photos taken during the weekend and post them on Instagram. Personally, this uplifts my mood and helps me find closure for the weekend and move forward.
Set weekly targets and goals
To boost myself, I design a weekly schedule and curate precise, brief goals that I must achieve by the end of the week. This acts as a driving force for me and motivates me to get back on track. The satisfaction I get after ticking off those targets on my weekly schedule is immeasurable.
Avoid overburdening
Though I just enumerated how planning out things to do for the upcoming week can give a boost to enhance our productivity during the entire week, we should also ensure that we don’t exert a lot of pressure on ourselves on the very first day of the week. We should take baby steps and keep smaller and more attainable targets on the initial days and then gradually, progress to more complex tasks.
Cut some slack
If, owing to my mental or physical well-being, I genuinely feel awful or stuck, I avoid beating myself up on such occasions and go a bit easy on myself on such Mondays. Even when I feel burdened, I give myself a day’s break and assure myself that the world won’t end if I commence my week officially on Tuesday.
To sum up, begin your Monday with a jolly mood, free of predetermined assumptions and get driven to achieve a new set of weekly objectives but at a smoother pace! Mondays may always be an eternal struggle, but with a little effort, they don’t have to feel impossible.