Mondays are always the worst days to wake up to and yet they are supposed to be the best because they indicate the start of a new week. Few people enjoy going to work on a Monday and actually feel productive the whole day and others have what we call “Lundiose,” French for Monday blues, basically the uneasiness for the start of the week. Generally, Monday is the day when most people feel so low and so down, but what if there were ways to turn those lows into strength to help us enter a new week with no problems? Otis Shema, an IT specialist, explains that there are so many reasons that turn our Mondays into the worst days. “Monday being the day that starts a new week explains a lot itself, that is the day that comes after days of enjoyment, days of relaxation, days of not thinking about work, and days after being a way from a toxic work environment. These reasons can cause a person to feel depressed about Monday, or being unproductive. Reasons are many but they are also changeable,” he says. Shema adds that, for a person to have a good start to the week they have to prepare for the week before, meaning if it is partying it can be done on Friday and Saturday, then you can relax on Sunday so that you will be fresh and relaxed when Monday comes. Adia Akineza, a graphic designer, says that to make Mondays more productive you need to avoid scheduling a lot of tasks for the day. “When you schedule a lot of tasks for Monday you get overwhelmed before even getting to the actual day, sometimes a lot of tasks are what makes us feel the blues of Mondays, doing a few tasks that need to be done that day can help you have a productive Monday. You can plan on your calendar that on Mondays you will focus on finishing the tasks that weren’t done from the previous week and add one or two new tasks,” she says. Akineza continues, “Try something that boosts your energy as soon as you wake up in the morning, doing something that sparks up your energy as soon as you wake up in the morning can affect your whole mood for the day, if you enjoy singing in the shower try that, or if you enjoy walking and exercising take 30 minutes off your morning and go for a jog, you will go to the office feeling fine and not grumpy,” she says. Akineza also suggests cleaning the mind before the start of the week, “Don’t think about what happened during the weekend, that was the previous week and thinking about what happened makes you feel miserable, you will feel that the week is going to be like until you reach the weekend again to do what you did the other weekend, focusing on the weekend too much and what happened gets you stuck in the past and therefore you feel unmotivated for the week you are in.” Shema also adds, “Make work fun, try to find ways to make your workplace more fun, you can bring snacks for your colleagues, or share a few stories before starting the day, that way you will not feel that coming in the office feels like going to the doctor or somewhere horrible. When the workplace is fun it lightens your mood.”
