Blue Monday?

As a kid I loved M&M’s, okay I’ll admit it, I still like them. Did you have a favorite color as a kid? I love green, so naturally green was my favorite color. For some reason, I didn’t think the green one tasted the best. Now you may wonder, do M&M’s have different tastes in one bag? Actually no, it’s all in the mind. Still, as kid I really was convinced that the red ones tasted the best and even today, my mind tells me that this is so. How about that brown one? I never liked the color, but according to me the brown one has a stronger chocolate taste then the rest. Once again, that’s my mind playing tricks on me….. it’s all in the mind.

Let’s talk Mondays. For many of us it’s the least favorite day of the week. We even have expressions for this, like the Monday Blues, ‘a case of the Mondays’ and there even is a Blue Monday, the worst Monday of the year. Just another manic Monday, I wish it was Sunday. Even if you consider it to be the worse day of the week, with Monday Motivationals I’m going to brighten your day a little. If you enjoy Mondays, now who doesn’t, it’s going to be even more enjoyable with the Monday Motivationals. Something to look forward to, isn’t it?

Did you know that the best day to apply for a job is Monday? For some reason people who apply for jobs on Monday, have 10-14% more chance of getting to the next stage in the application than any other day of the week. Odd, isn’t it? Perhaps Monday isn’t such a bad day at all. Most likely any negative feeling towards Monday (or any particular day of the week) is all in the mind.

Now getting started on a Monday can be hard. You just may have had one or two days off. You may have gotten some inspiration in the weekend to do some art and now it’s Monday…. back to school, back to work, time to do freelance work, work on commissions and so on. The fun seems to be over, at least that’s how we often perceive it to be. The question is of course, can we avoid Monday being the down day of the week? I don’t see why not. Let me share 4 simple things you could do to break the Monday blues habit…..

#1 First of all we need a change of mind. We need to reprogram our minds into thinking Monday’s are fine, fun, just another day as any other, nothing worse. Stop uttering negativity about Monday, instead start placing it in a positive light. Be positive about Monday, be thankful for it.

#2 The second thing we can do is really let the weekend be the weekend. Don’t take your work home. If you work at home, just let the work rest on Sunday. If you really take a break on at least Sunday, if possible even Saturday and Sunday, you will start much more refreshed on Monday. If Sunday isn’t like the rest of the days in your week, Monday really starts feeling like a fresh start.

#3 Another thing you can do is get to bed on time on Sunday. Then you get the rest needed and you wake up refreshed on Monday, instead of being tired. On Sunday we’re often still in the weekend mode and we often pay the price for that on Monday. I’ll admit it right away, I’ve got a hard time doing this myself and when Monday comes, I way too often wake up wishing it was still Saturday.

#4 Plan to bless someone on Monday. Turn your focus away from the not so fun day and turn it into a fun day by blessing someone. Sounds strange? It actually isn’t that strange at all. What you are doing is shifting your mind from the unpleasant to the pleasant. Along the way, you even make somebody who might be having a ‘bad’ Monday happy. In return, seeing somebody happy, makes you happy. Create a little card for someone. Get them a coffee or thee. Say something nice. Write a Monday Motivational. I’m sure you can think of something to bless someone on Monday.

This Monday, let’s do some planning and aside from the 4 tips I’ve given, think of some more things that could turn your next Monday into just another fun day!