Did you hear?
Mondays are the new Fridays.
That’s right, you can bring that feeling of excitement you experience at the end of the week to the beginning of your week.
I know this because I’ve done it.
Here’s everything you need to know about beating the weekend blues and falling in love with Monday.
P.S. If you’re new here, hey! I’m Thalia. I help 30-something girlies beat burnout and unf*ck their life through 1:1 coaching and self-paced tools. Every week(ish), I share content on burnout recovery, self-development, finding joy, and career growth. Subscribe here so you never miss a debrief.
I used to hate Mondays.
During my soul-sucking 9-to-5 life, I’d party nearly every night to escape my mundane reality. By Sunday, I was exhausted, hungover and dreading going to work on Monday morning.
To feel better, I’d order pizza, binge-watch Sex and the City and hide under the covers, fantasising about living on a tropical island.
I had a terrible case of the Sunday Scaries, which I couldn’t shake.
The truth is, I was extremely burnt out. Not just from my job but also from an unhealthy lifestyle.
I was unhappy, unfulfilled and unsatisfied. My anxiety was at an all-time high, and I’d constantly worry about work. Every time my phone buzzed, I’d panic; it was my demanding boss or a client calling with bad news.
I couldn’t relax on Sundays and struggled to get excited about a new week.
There was no motivational email in my inbox, no long walk in the park, no solo brunch, no cleaning and no weekly planning. All I did was eat, sleep, wallow, and repeat.
Fast forward, and I’m now totally in love with my Mondays.
I no longer have dread in the pit of my stomach on a Sunday night or feel anxious and worried about work. Better yet, I no longer waste my Sunday wallowing in bed. I’ve built myself a productive Sunday reset routine that helps me reflect, regroup and recharge.
Long story short, I go to bed every Sunday excited to wake up on Monday.
Mondays are now one of my favourite days of the week! (Literally, who’d have ever thought?!)
And that’s what I want for you. To beat the Monday blues and wake up feeling energised and confident about a new week.
You don’t need to do what I did and completely overhaul your life to ditch the Monday blues, but what you can do is implement one or more of the simple but powerful tips below.
How to know if you’ve got the Monday blues
Whatever your current work-life situation is, chances are you’ve experienced the Monday blues at least once.
The Monday blues mostly manifest as the anxious feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when a new week is fast approaching.
But just like menstrual cramps and the Instagram algorithm, they can affect women differently.
Here are some of the most common signs you’ve got the Monday blues:
- Difficulty waking up on Monday morning and wanting to stay in bed
- Lack of energy or enthusiasm for the day ahead
- Dragging your feet as you walk into work
- Low mood
- Feeling overwhelmed or anxious about a new week
- Dreading going back to work after the weekend
- Unable to focus and constantly thinking about work
- Drinking to escape your current reality
If you’re currently experiencing one or more of these issues, I want you to know that you’re not alone.
There are a lot of women out there going through exactly what you are going through. I was one of those women. But I managed to overcome the obstacles that I was facing.
So trust me when I say this. There are healthy lifestyle habits, 5 of which I’ve listed below, that you can adopt to help you beat the blues and enjoy your Mondays again.
How to beat the Monday blues
With a little bit of motivation, you can beat the blues and enjoy your Monday worry-free.
Here are 5 proven tips to implement the next time you are feeling that new week-ahead dread. I encourage you to bookmark this page so you can refer back to it whenever you need to.
1 | Plan and get organised
The secret to beating the Monday blues starts the weekend before.
This comes in the shape of a weekly reset routine.
Instead of diving head first into a new week without a plan and drowning under the overwhelm, spend your weekend getting organised.
Set some time aside on either Saturday or Sunday to fully prepare for the upcoming week so you can better show up for yourself.
The first step — tidy up your personal spaces.
This might look like changing your towels and bedsheets, doing laundry, emptying out the fridge and going grocery shopping.
Once your physical space feels fresh and your mind can think more clearly, it’s time to sit down and plan.
Map out your todos, priorities, projects, etc. and break them down into important next steps so you can feel more in control.
I also strongly recommend that you don’t jam-pack your weekly schedule full of meetings and events. Because that’s all it takes to overwhelm your nervous system and trigger anxious thoughts.
Instead, turn your week into something you can look forward to by leaving some breathing space in your schedule.
I like to call this white space.
White space is dedicated time for you to pause in between your workload and support your well-being. This could be as simple as having a 3-minute break after a meeting to regroup or taking a 30-minute lunch break away from your desk.
Hot tip:
Use The Eisenhower Matrix to get clear on your top priorities for the week and to avoid filling your schedule with “busy” work.
Simply draw four squares — two on top and two below. Label the top squares as “urgent” and “not urgent” and the left side squares as “important” and “not important.”
Next, sort your to-do list into the boxes accordingly and follow this flow:
- Do your urgent and important tasks immediately.
- Schedule your important but not urgent tasks for later.
- Delegate your urgent but not important tasks to someone else.
- Eliminate neither urgent nor important tasks.
2 | Dedicate time to self-care
I dare you to name a better combo than practising self-care on a Sunday.
You’re right, there isn’t one! Apart from pizza and red wine
Anyway!… Although I believe self-care should be a daily practice, there’s nothing more recharging than following a nourishing self-care routine at the weekend.
Not only will it help boost your mood, but it will also help reduce anxiety as your focus is on all the things that bring you joy. Whether that is going on a long walk in nature before an afternoon of baking or reading your favourite fiction book in the bath, self-care is king when it comes to beating the Monday blues.
Just remember to listen to your needs!
I know it’s super tempting to stay in bed all Sunday and binge-watch Gilmore Girls, but this is not doing anything for your self-esteem or mental health.
Take it from someone who’s been there: you don’t want to waste the day in bed because come Monday, you’ll feel even worse than you did before.
So get up, get ready, make plans with friends, go see your loved ones or take yourself out on a solo date.
If you would rather stay home, then spend the day engaging in a worthwhile activity like scrapbooking, reading, drawing or painting.
Do something that will nurture your creativity and support your mental well-being.
3 | Build a mindful morning ritual
When you wake up on Monday morning, instead of hitting that snooze button and jumping out of bed at the last possible moment, get up slowly and start your week on a positive note.
Step into a calmer you by following this mindful ritual:
- Slowly open your eyes
- Blink a few times
- Inhale, exhale
- Sit up
- Drink a large glass of water
And set an intention for the day.
You can do this by working through these quick prompts:
- How do I want my day to go?
- How would I like to feel by the end of today?
- How can I make this happen?
By setting an intention for your day, you can actively show up for yourself and your needs, allowing your day to happen for you, not to you.
If you want to make your mornings even more mindful, add this short mantra:
— Plant your feet on the floor, squeeze your toes, open the windows and recite, “Today is going to be a great day.”
Having a mindful morning ritual can help you to feel grounded and mentally prepare you for the week ahead. It also provides you with a sense of structure and balance because you have something to centre your day around.
Don’t hit snooze, mindlessly scroll on your phone and rush around as you get ready. Instead, be mindful of your actions and take it slow. I promise you, your day will go a lot more smoothly.
P.S. The above morning ritual is for guidance only. There are a bunch of healthy habits you can string together to make your ideal morning routine, so take your time and have fun with it.
Hot tip:
I also recommend establishing a calming bedtime routine on a Sunday night to ditch any worries and anxious thoughts about the upcoming week. During my 9-to-5 life, I used to drink half a bottle of wine to calm my Sunday Scaries, which, of course, just made them worse.
I now swear by this healthy ritual for a stress-free Monday:
- Turn off all notifications
- Light a candle
- Listen to this calming acoustic playlist
- Do some gentle stretches
- Read a fiction book for 30 minutes before sleep
4 | Journal
Journaling is a powerful ritual.
It helps you ease into the day and reduce any negative or anxious thoughts.
By writing down your thoughts and feelings first thing, you are releasing them from your mind, opening up space to think and your top priorities for the day.
In short, journaling in the morning serves as a powerful tool for emotional release and gaining clarity so you can move forward with your day.
So every Monday morning, grab your pen and journal. Come up with your own prompts, use the ones on my blog or simply write a gratitude list.
Brain-dumping your feelings and reframing your thoughts is one effective way to start your Monday from now on.
You might also want to spend time identifying any triggers. a.k.a. figure out the things that specifically make you anxious. Is it an upcoming presentation or a looming project deadline?
Once you identify your triggers, you can start to finally address them and come up with ways to deal with them head-on.
5 | Treat yourself to Monday morning perks
Fall in love with your Mondays even more by treating yourself to morning perks and naturally boosting your happy hormones.
Wake up early, get yourself outside for a breath of fresh air and go on a nice, short walk in nature. Or enjoy a cup of coffee and a sweet treat from your favourite coffee shop.
You can even listen to a funny podcast on the way to work.
It’s the little things that can make the biggest difference to your mood and help make Monday mornings more enjoyable.
So find those perks or rituals that bring you joy.
The first sip of coffee in the morning, the first glimpse of sunlight as you open your eyes, the sound of the birds singing or your favourite song in your ears.
Whatever it is, don’t skip this step and walk into work feeling 10 times more prepared to take on the day.
Hot tip:
If you choose sweet treats over natural ones, just be aware of the potential spike it might have on your blood sugar and the crash afterwards, as it might affect your mood and energy.
Final thoughts
I am not medically trained on this topic, anxiety or depression.
This blog post was written with my past experience with the Monday Blues in mind, and I share these tips in the hope they will help you in some way. Whether that is to make you feel less alone, give you support or encourage you to make yourself feel better, even if it’s just for a moment.
If you’ve implemented the above tips and still feel as though you are struggling with a low mood at the weekend or during the week, I encourage you to seek professional help.
Remember, you are not selfish for prioritising your mental health.
Having a resilient mindset is the foundation of creating a life you’re in love with.
So do not skip this step.
You’ve got this,
Thalia xx
