Love your Mondays

Small schedule tweaks can keep the Monday blues at bay

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to make Monday's more enjoyable.
Monday's definitely get a bad reputation if you believe what
you read online, they may actually be dangerous. One study

(00:26):
found that the risk of a heart attack was greater
on Mondays for adult men and greater for adult women
than on other days. Now, I will say I don't
want to blame this all on work. Further analysis has
found that even retirees see a spike in heart attacks
on Mondays, and they don't have a boss expecting them
at their desks at eight am sharp. So possibly these

(00:48):
statistics are delayed reaction to how people behave on the weekend,
and they're not the fault of Monday itself. That said,
a few people list Monday as their favorite day of
the week. But I think it's quite possible to enjoy
Mondays even if you don't love your job. There's a
lot you can do to make Mondays into something to
look forward to rather than dread. The key is thinking

(01:12):
about how you spend your Monday's and then building in
a treat or two structurally into your schedule. If you
like to exercise in the morning before work, maybe you
and a good friend could arrange to meet each Monday
morning to go for a walk or run together. Spending
time with people who energize you is one of the
best mood boosters around. Couple that socializing with exercise, and

(01:34):
you're going to start Monday with a bang. Your commute
can also be a source of joy. The easiest option
is to save a favorite podcast for your Monday morning drive.
You can listen to before breakfast any weekday morning, but
a number of podcasts come out just once a week,
so slot a favorite to Monday and you might find
yourself looking forward to getting on the road. Another smart

(01:56):
idea is to schedule a recurring lunch with work friends
every a Monday. You and two to three co workers
could grab lunch together at a year by restaurant. That way,
even if you don't particularly enjoy what you're doing between
the hours of nine am and twelve thirty pm, when
your alarm goes off Monday morning, you know you're only
a few hours away from good food and catching up
with great company. Some people tell me they build and

(02:19):
treats on Monday evenings to reward themselves for getting through
the work day. If you have a hobby, why not
try to engage in that hobby on Monday nights. You
could join a choir that meets on Mondays, or a
volleyball league with Monday night games. You could organize a
regular T G I M Happy hour. You could find
a favorite class at your gym and go to the

(02:39):
Monday night option. Or maybe your family does something fun
together on Monday nights. You take your family out to
a favorite restaurant, or you do some other adventure like
going on a walk or playground trip together if it's light,
if you tend to shuttle kids around to Monday night
sports practices, building something fun for you like thirty minutes
reading a favorite book, And don't write off your work

(03:01):
itself as a potential treat. Now, that might sound a
little strange to think of work as a treat, but
even if you're not in your dream job, there are
probably some parts of your job you like. We talked
in a previous episode about how if you have a
tendency to procrastinate, Monday morning can be a good time
for doing the toughest parts of your job and getting
them over with. But if that's not the case for you,

(03:24):
then maybe the first hour or two of Monday morning
can be reserved for the project you like best. You know,
the one you're actually excited to work on when you
start Monday excited. That feeling can help you survive the
rest of a challenging work week. So today, think through
how you normally spend your Monday's. Think about what treats

(03:45):
you could build into your normal Monday schedule. What would
you look forward to? Because if you can turn yourself
into the kind of person who looks forward to Monday's,
I promise you'll have a much more joyful life. In
the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

(04:06):
to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b the number

(04:27):
four than breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart
media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out with
all the letters. Thanks so much. I look forward to
Staying in Touch Before Breakfast is a production of I

(04:48):
heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit
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