You wake up from a deep sleep to your alarm going off. You open your eyes and see the gentle morning sunlight peaking in through your curtains. You lazily roll over to turn off your alarm and check the time. When you pick up your phone and read the date, a pang of disappointment goes through your mind. It’s Monday.
Monday means a full week ahead filled with work, school, homework, and whatever other appointments and to-do’s to get done. Our weeks can be busy and exhausting. Often, we always wake up and have the mindset to just get through the day or just make it to Friday because that is when the fun begins and we finally have a few days to enjoy ourselves. But although this is such a common and almost automatic mindset, it actually makes us miss out on a large part of our lives.
Instead of working to get through the day, we should try to enjoy ourselves as much as we possibly can throughout every single day. When you have the mindset to get through the day, you already have a negative mindset. This subconscious negativity waters down your day and takes away from possible enjoyment. Instead of waking up and wanting the day to be over, try finding small things to enjoy throughout the day. When you have to wake up early to go to class or are swamped with homework, at least you are lucky enough to be receiving an education. Although the process may not be fun, at least you are getting smarter and receiving information that will help your future.
If you are at work and tired or cranky, remember that you are getting paid for being there. Remember that the money you are making will also help your future and think of all the things that the money you are making right now will help you get. Despite how annoying it is to go to the DMV or to go to the grocery store when all you want to do is relax, at least it’s one more thing that you get to check off your to-do list. Changing your mindset about all the small tasks you have to complete throughout the day will change the energy you have throughout the entire week. Having a more positive mindset will allow you to see the bright side in even the smallest events. This will bring you more joy throughout the week. Instead of always wanting to get through the week to enjoy the weekend, you can simply enjoy the week.
If it is difficult to break the habit of always wanting to work to get to the weekend, there are a few things you can try to change your mindset. The first one is journaling. At the end of every day, sit down and reflect. Try to find three to five things that made you happy or that you appreciated throughout the day. This can be as simple as someone who held the door open for you or even just seeing a dog. Another tip that may help you change your mindset is to actually give out compliments to other people to try to make their day a little brighter. This is a win-win because not only are you making someone else happy, but seeing their face light up and knowing that you were the reason will also make your day brighter, too.
No matter what you do to make your week more enjoyable, it’s important to make the most of and appreciate every day. Stop working just to get through the week and start enjoying every day of your life.