Monday complains to a psychologist: “Nobody likes me!” It’s funny because it’s true. Millions of people worldwide feel like this about Monday. This has been proven by researchers at the University of Vermont Complex Systems Center who analyzed Twitter messages since 2018 for happiness. The Monday stress, the anxiety, the blues… How to deal with it all? Read on.
There are several ways to reduce Monday stress and anxiety.
- If your work standards are too high, practice good enough philosophy – on a scale 1-10, settle for an 8.
- Finish the worst tasks first thing Monday morning.
- Bring more fun to your work. Consider starting a new project at work, taking up a workshop to learn new skills, or look for a promotion.
- Practice self-care, especially self-compassion meditation.
- Practice positive affirmations or use any Monday-related anchor phrases that resonate with YOU. For example, “I am bigger than you, Monday.”
- Count your blessings. What advantages does your job offer you? Think about your purpose? Why are you there? Can you change your attitude towards work?
- Lead a healthy lifestyle. The natural feel good hormones will take care of Monday stress and anxiety.
- Bring more fun to your Mondays. Karaoke night, Monday spa evening, a tennis match with your colleagues, or add a hobby to your day. Mondays need this.
- Take Monday morning yoga or dance classes.
- Have amazing weekends. This will spill over into how you feel on Mondays.
- If you’re a freelancer, and it’s possible for you, change how you design your week.
- Talk to your supervisors and colleagues about the root causes of your misery.
3 Sides of the Monday Stress and Anxiety
As you can see, there are three aspects we will address here: the things you can change about yourself, the things you can change about Mondays and the things for which you need outside support.
Things You Can Change About Yourself:
Lower Your Standards
If you are a professional, it’s normal to set high standards for the quality of work that you do. Winging it is just not a concept you like to entertain. However, high standards breed high levels of stress and anxiety, especially on a Monday.
Here, “good enough” philosophy is of great help. This means that when it comes to standards, on a scale 1-10, you strive to achieve an 8. Your 8 is someone else’s 10. And that’s good enough! Drop perfectionism, make life easy on you.
As we mentioned in our article on choice paralysis, the good enough approach is what both programmers, and parenting psychologists use. It was introduced by Donald Winicott, a British pediatrician and psychoanalyst who had many parents coming to him thinking they are lousy parents. So, he came up with this approach to ensure families are stable and healthy.
Eat That Frog
Mark Twain said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” In the world of time management, this means – do the worst tasks right away and the rest of the day will be a breeze. So, instead of procrastinating, go ahead and finish your most dreaded tasks first thing Monday morning.
Bring More Fun to Your Work
Few are the lucky ones who enjoy their jobs every minute of every day. For most, their jobs include dull, dreary routine tasks that don’t inspire excitement or fulfillment. No wonder you are getting bored. What to do about this?
Can you find ways to make your job more interesting? Perhaps there is a new refreshing work project you could take up? Maybe you can change your job within the company? Is there a promotion you could set your heart on? Are there any workshops offered by your company’s HR that could help you gain new skills?
Practice Self-Care
If working hard is all that you do, no wonder you feel stressed. What forms of self-care can you practice? Spend time with your loved ones, have plenty of time in the sun, and in nature – it doesn’t have to be anything too exotic, you can simply go to the park more. Make your time off work as enriching as possible. This will change your perspective to the dreaded 8 hours on Monday.
Practice Self-Compassion Meditation
Since Mondays can be tough, on this day especially you need self-compassion more. We wrote about these forms of meditation in our article on Improving Empathy with Yoga, Mudras and Meditation:
Metta (Loving Kindness) Meditation:
- Begin by taking a comfortable meditation position and close your eyes.
- Starting with the feet, feel and relax all your body parts.
- Then notice each breath as it comes and goes. Allow the breath to become deeper and even more relaxing.
- Now, visualize yourself and say to yourself: “1. May I be happy. 2. May I be healthy. 3. May I be well.”
- Repeat this as many times as you need.
As you go about your day, whenever you meet your triggers, repeat this to yourself.
Tonglen Meditation
The following is a variation of this old Buddhist meditation. The first 3 steps are the same as for Metta (Loving Kindness) meditation above. Then, as you inhale, breathe in a smoky air of your negativity and suffering into your heart. In there, transform it into light and breathe out compassion for yourself into the world. Breathe out your intention for yourself to be well.
Practice Affirmations
As we mentioned in our article on how to replace negative with positive self-talk, use affirmations that actually resonate with you. There’s no point in repeating something you don’t believe in, this can only make you cringe inside or feel like you are lying to yourself.
So what is it that you could tell yourself to enjoy your job more? It might help to say: “You are just one day in the week,” or “I am bigger than you,” or “I am not playing that game with you, Monday.” These sentences don’t have to be positively framed, just frame them in a way that resonates with how you feel. Whenever you feel triggered on Monday, keep repeating these phrases.
Count Your Blessings
Remind yourself what is pleasurable about your job. Write a list. Get creative, write all the little things you find satisfying about your job. If there aren’t many things on your list, well, perhaps it’s time to change it?
Also, for me it helps to come up with scenarios that I really dislike. Backstabbing colleagues, patronizing employers and cold-hearted corporations are something I dread. So, scaring myself with these options helps me to appreciate what I have.
Revisit Your Purpose
Why did you start doing this job in the first place? What was it that sparked joy about it? There had to be something more than just money. Remind yourself of why you are there. Set an intention in the morning to live your purpose on Mondays. Perhaps look into your future. How does the work you are doing now relate to your future self and where you want to be?
Change Your Attitude
If you see work as something boring, then that’s usually what it will be. If you are set on seeing it as dreary, then how can you see anything else about it? We see what we want to see. Your work should not just be about the “have-tos” Change ‘I have to’ into ‘I want to.’ And make an effort to see the positives. This is not to say you need to think positively. Think realistically. What are the goods your work brings to your life? Chances are, you will be spending many Mondays working. So, change how you feel about them.
Lead a Healthy Lifestyle
If you feel exhausted on Mondays, we need to look at your lifestyle. Are you getting enough exercise? Exercising regularly boosts your happy feel-good hormones. Are you getting enough sleep and eating healthy? Just changing these three things can change your whole outlook on work. If you can’t change your circumstances, change yourself. Sleeping, exercising and eating right are the healthiest ways to do it. And make sure you do these every day, not just on the weekends.
Things You Can Change About Mondays:
Add More Fun to Your Mondays
Since Monday is perceived as a stress and anxiety inducing day for a reason, we need to change this perception by adding other activities to it. You need to have interesting things you do outside of work, to ease off the Monday pain and discomfort. Perhaps it can be your spa day or a karaoke night with your coworkers? Imagine going to a spa every Monday after work. This will definitely give you something to look forward to in the morning.
Take up a New Hobby
Pick a new hobby or interest which will take your mind off Monday stress and anxiety. It might sound counterproductive to add more things to your to-do list when you already have enough. But, the experience of many people I know has shown that if you just have one task on your to-do list, it can be difficult to finish it. You get more things done when you have more tasks.
Take Monday Morning Yoga Classes
These classes can be designed around Monday stress and anxiety. When you receive professional help in the form of a yoga class to deal with these obstacles, life can be much easier. Your yoga class can be a gentle and soothing one or a more strenuous one that helps you physically release all that tension. If one doesn’t work, try another one. To check out what types of yoga classes there are, and which one could be right for you, check this post.
Take Monday Morning Dance Classes
Nothing shouts joy and fun as dancing, if you like to dance. We wrote lots about dance therapy and its benefits for mental health here. You don’t even have to go to a workshop, you can have your little dance class by yourself. As Vera Erac, psychologist and body psychotherapist, explained in that article, the steps are rather simple:
You can make your own music list with a duration of half an hour or longer. It should have a meditative beginning and ending. Put livelier songs in the middle which inspire you for a more expressive dance. You need to have enough space to move. Wear comfortable clothes and be barefoot. Entice yourself to breathe consciously. Be aware of your feet. Be curious about all parts of your body. Become aware of all the ways in which they can move. Discover new ways.
Choose a song to which you will pay particular attention to your bones and wrists, let the bones tell their own story, so that you can feel every little bone, vertebrae, ribs… Notice what livelier music brings to your dance. Give yourself the permission not to care how your dance looks. In the end, allow the dance to settle down and the body to become still. Feel yourself now. Feel what has changed in the body.
Make the Most of Your Weekends
If you spend 2 days filling yourself with joys and pleasures, this will spill over into your Mondays. Carlos Castaneda said “Never to go to bed angry.” I’d add to this, don’t go to bed on a Sunday night feeling stressed or anxious about Monday. There are big chances you will wake up feeling the consequences.
Those two days are your days. How can you make the most of them? Treat yourself with something yummy. Two days is enough to even travel! Imagine traveling somewhere (cheap) every week. This will boost your mood for sure. End Sunday with an entertaining movie you’ve been looking forward to seeing or a good book. Going to bed feeling fulfilled and relaxed can ensure you wake up feeling like this on Monday morning as well.
Design Your Own Week
This is possible if you become a freelancer. I, for example, couldn’t care less about Mondays because all days are the same to me. I can work on any given day of the week and have a weekend in the middle of the week. If you are working or thinking about working as a freelancer, consider creating your week the way you like it. Perhaps Wednesdays and Sundays can be your days off?
Things for Which You Need Outside Support:
Talk to Your Supervisors
There have to be reasons why you feel the way you do. Get to the root of what’s missing or there’s too much of at your work and pluck up the courage to talk to your supervisors about it. Perhaps some of these issues can be changed.
Talk to Your Colleagues
Perhaps something is off about how the tasks are distributed and you end up taking on more than you should. Address this at your next meeting or perhaps talk to your colleagues in private. Be honest about how you feel. Your mental health is an important part of who you are at the workplace. It’s in everyone’s best interest to keep it at optimal state.
Conclusion: Find Ways to Befriend Your Mondays
Now that you know the name of your enemy, it’s time to grow a relationship to it. The best thing is to befriend it. If this is hard, then the next best thing is to mitigate its effects. Equipped with the tools and strategies we provided, your Mondays can become your Fridays, or at last Thursdays. Good luck and may you have happy Mondays.
Tatjana Glogovac, Senior Contributor At L’Aquila Active
Learn more about Tatjana by reading her bio below.
Click on link below to meet L’Aquila Active’s entire team of experts, including university degrees, certifications, and credentials on yoga and meditation: