The Best 5 Ways to Beat Monday Blues
Have you ever found it very difficult to get up for work on a Monday morning and you let your alarm snooze more than a couple of times? Or have you felt like calling in sick on the first day of the week just because you cannot resist the warmth of the blanket? Or have you dreaded the pile of work to be completed on Monday so much that you were not able to enjoy your Sunday fully?
Every person experiences instances such as the ones mentioned above at some point in life. After an amazing weekend, it becomes challenging to keep all the fun aside and get back to another work week. Even employees who enjoy the job assigned to them are sometimes seen dragging themselves to the office at the start of the week.
What is Monday Blues? Definition
Monday Blues refers to a set of negative feelings of hopelessness, tiredness, lack of interest, and general negativity to work that an individual experience at the beginning of a workweek. Such feelings can have a negative impact on the employee's mental health, work performance, job satisfaction, and ability to work well.
Hence there is a need to figure out several different .
The Top-5 Ways to Deal with Monday Blues
Though the sources I used for this post actually contain quite a few more tips or strategies to deal with Monday Blues, I decided to focus only on the 5 best / main ones. Firstly, there were some common tactics that were written separately in different points. I tried to incorporate them in one point. Secondly, there were some tactics such as 'be positive, have fun at work, or make others smile' which I considered a bit unrealistic to be applied in the real workplace. As a result, I believe my list is most useful.
- IDENTIFY THE REASON BEHIND IT: It is usual for employees to experience Monday Blues once in a while. However, if this problem occurs every week and is hampering one's performance, it should not be brushed aside. Try identifying the root cause of the problem and think of ways to deal with it. Lack of passion for the job, a toxic work environment, an over-demanding boss, or an unreasonably large workload could be reasons for the same. In such cases, consider talking to your superiors regarding changing your team, fixing problems with your colleagues, or move on and start looking for a new job.
- HIT THE SWITCH OVER THE WEEKEND: Sometimes, employees feel frustrated since they were busy responding to emails and did not enjoy the weekend at all. In such situations, they may need to consider creating more distinct boundaries between their work and private life. Avoid checking and responding to messages if it is not extremely important. Employees may consider turning off such notifications on weekends to break off this habit. On weekends, focusing on me-time allows one's mind to unplug from the hectic workdays.
- PLAN YOUR MONDAY ON FRIDAY: Make sure your work calendar is up to date and well synchronized. Try completing all the hectic work by Friday so that you do not need to start your Monday completing last week's pending work. Make sure to finish off with any challenging, unpleasant tasks as early as possible. This may help avoid procrastination and postponing work further ahead.
- PLAN A LIGHT WORK SCHEDULE ON MONDAY: Employees should try beginning their workweek with easy, routine tasks and spend time planning out for the rest of the week. Distribute client meetings and appointments evenly across the week, rather than cramming them all on Monday. Fully enjoying the weekend may not seem realistic for many in special circumstances. In case of essential tasks and approaching deadlines, one may consider getting a head start by working 1-2 hours during weekends without overburdening oneself.
- GET ADEQUATE SLEEP: Sleep deprivation may negatively affect work performance, productivity, and relations with clients, supervisors, colleagues, and subordinates. It may have a tremendous impact on the employee's mood and thoughts about getting back to work on a Monday morning. Sleeping early on Sunday and waking up slightly early may help employees stay alert and awake at work. Sufficient sleep of 7-9 hours can help reduce frustration, anxiety, and fatigue among employees.
Although none of us can escape the dreaded Monday, which comes after a weekend, we can indeed find ways to tackle Monday Blues. However, if one starts experiencing severe signs of Monday Blues across the week, it might be related to
signs of Burnout and Depression. In such circumstances, it would always be recommended to employees to seek professional help.
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Have you ever experienced Monday Blues? How did you deal with it?
Sources:
Smith, J. (2014, September 29). "11 ways to beat the Monday Blues". Forbes.
Lamothe, C. (2019, October 30). "Monday blues: 14 tips for beating them". Healthline.
Overman, M. (2020, October 8). "What are the MONDAY BLUES?" E.Counselling.
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