Master Your Mondays: 4 Tips

There are some pretty ridiculous national holidays out there from Hot Sauce Day to Fruitcake Toss Day to Dance Like a Chicken Day—but I have yet to mention the craziest of all. Are you ready for it? National Thank God It’s Monday Day. That’s right: there’s a whole day dedicated to being grateful for the most loathed 24 hours of the week. Now, we could ridicule this cause for celebration until we’re blue in the face and even more despiteful of Mondays—or we could take this opportunity to completely transform our view of Mondays.

According to National Day Calendar, National Thank God It’s Monday Day was created to celebrate all things that will occur on a Monday in the coming year: from job promotions, to births, to college acceptances, to vacations, and so on. Additionally, it’s meant to highlight hope, excitement, and new beginnings—as it kicks off the first full week of the new year. Now, if you weren’t convinced that this is a worthy holiday before, hopefully you see its potential now: Mondays might bring your weekend to an end, but they also have the power to be truly extraordinary. That being said, it’s time to take advantage of our Mondays—to stop loathing the beginning of each week and to start enjoying it. Master the first day of the week every week. Just follow these four simple tips:

1) Change your perception.

A big reason Monday’s aren’t all that great is because we’ve already decided they’re going to suck. We feed into this longstanding ideation that Monday’s are no good, very bad days. Therefore, the first step to making them better is challenging that negative ideation. Think about it: if you start your week off saying, “Today’s going to be the worst,” having a good day will be markedly difficult. Instead, wake up Monday morning telling yourself that today’s going to be great.

2) Have a plan.

Once you’ve decided that Mondays are worthy of your love and attention, further ensure that the coming day is a good one by planning it in advance. Dedicate a small frame of time on Sunday—say 5-10 minutes—to mapping out your Monday. This doesn’t have to be a detailed or organized agenda entry… but it can be if you want it to. The only requirement is that you jot down what you want your Monday to look like. Is there a specific time you want or need to wake up? Do you want to get in a workout? Are there chores that need to be done? Generate an idea of what you want and need to accomplish.

3) Incorporate calming techniques.

Another major reason Mondays get a bad rap is because they mark the beginning of the work week. You’ve just spent a couple days unwinding, relaxing, and having fun with friends… but now it’s back to work. Making this transition can be rough on your mind and your body: it can spike stress levels and even cause your blood pressure to rise. Therefore, it’s important that you incorporate calming techniques throughout your day. You’ve already adapted the “I can” attitude, which will put you in the right mindset, but taking time to practice breathing exercises, meditation, and/or mindfulness can further cushion this shift in focus.

4) Spoil yourself.

A sure-fire way to change your outlook on Mondays for the better: allotting time for pampering yourself. We typically view the weekend as our time for relaxing and catering to personal pleasures—but there’s no rule that says we can’t spoil ourselves on Mondays too. Find small ways throughout the day to spoil yourself: kick your day off listening to your favorite song, bring a cup of your favorite hot chocolate to work, meet your best friend for lunch, and so on. At the very least, allot a small window of time in your day for doing something you love, whether that’s reading a book, taking a bubble bath, or watching catty reality TV.

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