5 Tips to Conquer Monday Morning Blues

Monday morning rolls around and either you find yourself dreading the start of the day and week or you feel armed and empowered with the proper tools and mindset to jumpstart your day/week and tackle it head-on with no hesitation. You do have a choice — which of these do you prefer?

Try incorporating these 5 tips that will help put you in the latter category, ensuring that your health takes a priority when the beginning of the workweek can often be a struggle and slow start for many.

1. Clean Your Kitchen Over the Weekend. If you wake up to a messy, disorderly kitchen full of dirty dishes and a fridge stocked with spoiled food you are less likely to take action in the kitchen to prep and cook healthy food for the day. It’s easy to use the excuse, “I’ll just buy my lunch somewhere today” when you can’t think clearly in the kitchen. And if your Monday turns out to be a crazy start to the week (which it often can be for many), you may use the same logic upon returning home when dinner planning begins. Don’t let this happen — take 30 mins to 1 hour to tidy up and wake up to a spotless kitchen that doesn’t put you in that situation.
   

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2. Make a Trip to the Grocery Store or Farmers Market. Makes sense, right? After you have a well-kept kitchen with space in your cupboards and fridge after tossing your unwanted and expired food items, you can restock and load up on your favorite healthy foods for the week. Setting aside time to shop prior to Monday alleviates the need to cram in another task on an already busy day. Make sure you load up on adequate high-quality protein, fresh produce and other staples.
   

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3. Pre-Schedule Your Exercise Plan. Starting my Monday morning off knowing which days I’ll visit the gym to exercise helps me to plan my week better when it comes to other engagements I may have to fulfill. For me, I like to go to the gym 3-4 times a week, so Monday morning I look at my calendar and decide which 3-4 days would be best to hit the gym and pencil it in. It seems simple but this method really helps me stay on track and know that if it’s scheduled, that I’ll most likely make every effort to stick with that plan. Treat it as a date with a friend, but it’s just a prior engagement with you and your health instead. Here’s a link to an old post I wrote on scheduling and priorities: http://wp.me/p5E8l7-4A
   

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4. Set Aside 1-2 Hours of Personal Time. Though it’d be ideal to take this tip to the next level and implement this every day of your workweek, trying this out at first on your Monday can do wonders. Wake up and instead of diving right into your work or getting ready for work, allot an extra 1-2 hours to do something for yourself. This can be: reading a book, taking a walk, practicing yoga, meditating, practicing a hobby you’re perfecting, listening to a podcast. Making it a point to invest in yourself first before giving that time to someone else (like your employer) will set the tone of your day and will most likely leave you with positive lasting effects for the remainder of your day.
   

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5. Write a To-Do List on Friday. If you end your workweek on a Friday, end that day by creating a To-Do list for your upcoming week. Having this plan set forth before you go into your weekend can help alleviate work-related anxiety and put your mind at ease Sunday evening when you lay down to sleep. It’s not uncommon for individuals to experience stress upon trying to go to bed the night before a new workweek. Having that list first thing to look at Monday morning (of course, after you’ve executed TIP #4 above) will set you up for success in the workplace and put you one step ahead.
   

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Give these 5 tips a try and I guarantee that your day will be a lot more smooth and welcomed allowing you to conquer the Monday Morning Blues without as many bumps and obstacles that many Mondays can usually contain.

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