Monday's Mental Health Moment

If you're on Facebook or some other social media site, you probably notice people complain about Mondays.  What is it about this particular day of the week that gets our undies in a bundle?  When I was in school, I hated Sunday nights because they lead to Monday mornings.  Like so many others, I despised Monday.  Maybe now that I work a different schedule and I'm not a Monday through Friday 9 to 5-er, Mondays are a bit different for me.  Unfortunately, for many others, Monday can cause quite a bit of irritability.

Sure, the alarm clock goes off and you're probably still in weekend mode.  "Just one more day" echoes in your head as you smack that snooze button like it's a fly on the dessert you're about devour.  A high percentage of workers arrive late on Monday -- more than any other day of the week.  Monday is also considered "heart attack day" because more heart attacks occur on Monday than any other day.  

Come on, Folks!  Chill out.  Monday is not that bad!  It's an opportunity to start a brand new week.  If you're staring at the clock counting down the days until Friday, that's sad.  You're missing out.  Make Mondays fun!  Here are a few ideas on how to do that:

• Treat yourself to something!  Many people order out on Fridays.  Maybe Monday would be a better day?  Who doesn't like a delivered meal right to the workplace?  And, you wouldn't have to spend time packing your lunch on Monday morning, which could give you a little extra time to read the paper, watch some funny YouTube videos, or sing your favorite wake-me-up-song into a spatula! 

• I don't believe that refrigerators were made to be naked.  Go buy yourself some funky magnets and keep a list of "Things to Look Forward to Today".  Sometimes when we wake up and already have a negative attitude about the day, the only thing that may come to mind is "Leaving Work" or "There's a 2% chance that class could get canceled".  If you can't find anything better than that to look forward to, keep thinking!  

• Make a playlist on your iPod or burn a CD (if people still do that these days) specifically set for the Monday morning drive!  Songs should be fun and upbeat, or whatever puts you in a good mood!  Here are just a few of my favorite drive-to-work tunes:

• "Find the Beat Again" - Sugarland
• "It's a Sunshine Day" - The Brady Bunch
• "Don't Stop Believin'" - Journey
• "Get Down" - Audio Adrenaline 
• "Good Day" - Jewel
• "Man in the Mirror" - Michael Jackson
• "Outside My Window" - Sarah Buxton
• "Walking on Sunshine" - Katrina and the Waves
• "When There's No One Around" - Garth Brooks
• "Wouldn't It Be Nice" - Beach Boys
• "Blessed" - Martina McBride

• Remember last week when I talked about Me Time?  Schedule yourself a Me Time session every Monday!  

• On average, people don't smile on Mondays until 11:15 AM.  That's ridiculous!  Smile, people!!!  First thing when you wake up!  

Make your own list of what you can do to improve your Mondays!  They really aren't that bad!  You have between 51 and 53 Mondays in a year!  Go make them count!!!