5 Ways to Counter Monday Blues

“Monday Blues”, used to describe a set of negative emotions that many people experience at the beginning of the work week. Whether it is the overwhelming feeling of stress, or the sluggish feeling due to a lack of rest over the weekend, this phenomenon contains a sense that work is unpleasant and unavoidable. Naturally, this emotional state can have a huge impact on your performance in the office. In a certain degree, the negative effects of Monday Blues can even extend beyond an individual’s productivity to even those around them. Check out the tips below to combat the beginning of work week anxiety.

Plan ahead of time: Predetermining your schedule before Monday could greatly reduce the stress of going into an unplanned day. Prioritizing more complex tasks to be completed in the earlier hours of the day will further ease your anxiety. Once those tasks are completed, it will be much easier to breeze through the rest of your day.  

Stressed but well-dressed:  This is a classic example of when you look good, you feel good. Rather than avoiding the dreaded Monday Blues, face it with confidence by wearing an outfit that you’re comfortable in. Not only could it boost your self -confidence, you might even get a few compliments from your colleagues!

Have something to look forward to: We often think about all the tough tasks ahead of us. Do the opposite and list out things you’re looking forward to reward yourself at the end of a long work day. Be it a night out with friends or just staying in to catch up on a TV show, it’ll be sure to help you power through the tasks during the day.

Prepare mentally: Go in with a positive attitude on Monday will set the tone for the rest of your work week. Although Monday Blue is most likely a result of dissatisfaction of work environment, focusing on the positives would prevent the negative energy from taking over.

Prepare physically: Get enough rest over the weekend. Whether or not you are heading into the office on Monday, it is highly unlikely that you will feel good about going anywhere when you are running on a couple hours of sleep the night before. Waking up early the morning of could also improve your mentality. While most would prefer to sleep in for another 30 minutes, that little amount of time could actually prevent you from feeling trapped in a time crunch.