Monday needs love too

So I read this fantastic post by one of my fellow bloggers, Andrea. It stirred up a thought that had bothered me for a while now. One that resurfaces every time I walk into the office on a Monday morning.

“Oh great. Another Monday.”
“How was your weekend? Not long enough…”
“Monday’s suck.”
“Monday is the worst thing ever.”
*moan* *sigh* *huff and puff*

And so it goes. It usually carries through to Tuesday. By Wednesday, there’s a slight tinge of optimism, although it’s veiled in sarcasm, and often still finds a way to lead back to Monday.

“It’s only Wednesday… but at least it’s not Monday.”

Why do we do this and project so much hate on Mondays? Andrea suggests we just follow what everyone else does, and I agree. Monday-hating is prevalent in most workplace cultures. In order to fit in, it’s easy to keep hating on Monday by churning out the same tired, old, drab phrases, and not think beyond the words coming out of your mouth.

Or is it more than just the words? Do people genuinely feel worse on a Monday than any other day of the week? Has the workplace culture become that strong that we are conditioned to intrinsically hate Mondays? I don’t know, I’m not a psychologist.

But what I am absolutely certain about is that it can be fixed. Easily. By you. A while back, I made the conscious decision to no longer fall into the Monday-hating trap and feel horrible for no good reason. I also decided that I’d like to slowly change the attitude of people I work with. There’s over 100 people in my office but if I can alter the attitude of just a few of them, that’s a positive right?

So this is what I do every Monday morning. When I wake up, I treat it as a fresh start. It’s my time to re-assess where I’m up to with short-term goals. My new week ahead is also when I can atone for eating bad food or drinking too much alcohol on the weekend. I can kickstart a new exercise plan, I can decide what new tasks I hope to accomplish through the week, and I can sort out which of my friends and family I can catch up with, and when.

My Monday’s now offer me something that Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday generally don’t.

Once I was satisfied that my attitude toward Monday’s had shifted into something more positive, I took it to work with me. Here are the simple things I do at work to avoid falling further into the Monday trap, and to hopefully nudge (gently) my Monday-ness onto others:

1. I smile and keep a spring in my step when I walk into the office. I smile most days but make it just that little bit wider on a Monday. Happiness and positivity breed likewise.
2. When I’m asked how my weekend was, I don’t blurt out the usual “not long enough” or moan that I’m back at work. I tell them I had a great weekend and that I feel refreshed and ready to go again.
3. When I hear those cringeworthy, horrible Monday lines mentioned earlier, I respond with, “It’s not that bad is it? Monday’s no different to the rest of the week!” The response I receive to that specific tactic is slowly improving.

As with any of my suggestions throughout my entire blog, they aren’t groundbreaking, but they are incredibly simple to do. If you love your Monday’s, that’s fantastic! But if you hate your Monday’s and fall into the Monday-hating trap, ask yourself why. Ask yourself if anything negative actually happens on a Monday that doesn’t happen on other days. And is there a reason you don’t feel refreshed after a weekend?It’s all about perception. Every single person has the power to make any day of the week work for them.

So tell me, how do you feel about Monday’s? What can you do to minimise any negativity that still lingers?