Alternate Title: How to be on Top of Mondays
Everyone knows the familiar complaints. More absences and lateness occur on Mondays, among people who work or go to school in the morning, Monday through Friday. On Mondays, people find it harder to wake up, be motivated and at their best quality and productivity.
Photo courtesy of Annie Spratt @ Unsplash.com
It's not like work and school are bad things. Shouldn't we look forward to getting back to them?
A wise man got up every workday morning at 4:30 to get ready for his commute to his job downtown. He took pleasure in making healthy breakfasts, meditating and exercising before leaving home. On Saturdays he rose early by choice to work on hobbies in his garage workshop before going in to cook his family breakfast. Sundays, maybe he allowed a half hour more sleep.
Mondays, he was as refreshed in the morning as any other day. Mondays didn’t have to be so hard to deal with, he said that’s just an illusion people set themselves up for. He was a successful and well-respected executive. He must have known something.
Many years after that conversation, the condition of social jetlag has become a topic. Changing what times we sleep interferes with restful sleep. Staying up later or sleeping later during the weekend throws us a little off kilter the day we’re no longer allowed luxury of so much down time.
Going to sleep and waking up at regularly scheduled times is certainly the best idea for minimizing Monday blues. Less people can keep such a strict routine.
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Beware of that tempting recovery nap as soon as you get home Monday afternoon, unless your nap is everyday scheduled at this time.. The more regularity we can have with our scheduled sleep, we have more predictable focus and energy for everyday life.
Here are some other ideas that can help Mondays be easier, even if you can’t keep regular sleeping hours.
Photo courtesy of Yakynina Anastasia @ Unsplash.com
Get Monday’s healthy breakfast together on Sunday, so you’ll be sure not to miss your most important meal.
If you partake in things like caffeine or sweets, putting them down after 8 pm will invite less sleep anxiety (worrying about not getting to sleep).
Limit the screens. Give yourself a break from the blue light from phones, tablets, big screens and other technology that delays healthy sleep. Put them away at least an hour before sleep time, for best results.
If you were up late the night before, go to sleep halfway between the time you usually go to sleep and the time you went to sleep the night before, unless you just fall asleep before then. Use the time past your usual bedtime to take a soothing soak with Keep Calm Bath Soak.
Photo courtesy of Isham Seefromthesky @ Unsplash.com
For deeper more restful sleep, spray pillows with a lavender based aroma mist or mix a couple drops Lavender Essential Oil with your preferred oil base and apply to temples shortly before slumber.
Avoid hitting snooze Monday morning. Allowing time for exercise, meditation and breakfast before moving forward into the day encourages focus, as well as well-balanced thoughts and a better quality you..
(see our blog about morning meditation.)
Wishing you the best of Mondays.
Live Your Roots
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