The window is opened a crack inviting a gentle breeze and a sliver of sunlight into your bedroom. As you ever so slightly stir in your sleep and snuggle even more contentedly into your silky sheets, your dog rearranges herself in the crook of your knee. You are one with your eiderdown pillow while being entranced by a captivating dream. All is right in your world until ...
Beeeeeeep. Beeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
The alarm clock shocks you awake like ice-cold water in the face. Oh yuck, it can't possibly be Monday already. Another workweek begins, and the most you can hope for is that nothing out of the ordinary happens. Blah. Just get through it, you tell yourself.
For years, there were two competing theories about how employees felt about Monday. One group felt people be eager and energized after two days of not working. The other camp felt the more common response would be the Monday blues. The most recent studies call the winner (which may seem obvious to many of us!): the Monday blues camp.
The most common culprit for the Monday blues is having a job that doesn’t suit your skills or personality or doesn’t maximize your joy or strengths. Perhaps it’s a job or line of work you “fell in to,” that felt safe or was one you needed to take for the sake of its salary.
But it doesn't have to be that way. The Boomtown Rats anthem, “I Don’t Like Mondays,” needn’t be your theme song, but perhaps it’s been playing in your head for most or all of your work life.
1. Manage your reaction to your current situation. Give it a fresh look to see what about it actually is not so bad. What can you learn from it? How could you improve it? Can you talk to your boss about enriching it? Can you see it in a strategic light by identifying how it can help lead you to your next career move? Spend some time reflecting on these possible opportunities, and consider exploring some mindfulness exercises to help you gain clarity, reduce your stress and boost your creative problem solving.
2. Decide to make a job or career change. If the possibilities above don’t seem available to you, rather than get mired in your misery, commit to making a change. Instead of dreading work or being less than fully engaged once you’re there, how would it feel if you burst out of bed bounding with energy and enthusiasm to tackle the day’s work? Pretty darn good I bet. Believe me, it’s absolutely possible but unfortunately, all too uncommon!
Sadly, most people won’t do either. There’s actually comfort and ease in the familiar, even when we aren’t happy. It can be a lot easier and provide short-term satisfaction to complain about our boss, our job, our commute, salary or coworkers rather than doing something about it, whether it’s reframing our perspective or leaving the