8 rules that help you to cheerfully start a new work week

So, Monday is inevitable. Feeling apathy? It turns out that you don't have to be depressed on Monday. As you prepare for a busy fall season, try one of our 8 tips — it is guaranteed will help you to keep feeling refreshed after a fun but tiring weekend!

The life experience of the cat Garfield (a character in the comic book series of the same name) tells the tailed philosopher two things: that lasagna is delicious, and Monday, before it starts, it is already tiresome.

Monday is not just a transition from rest to work or school week. Many of us go to bed late on weekends and wake up even later — this disrupts our circadian rhythms and makes us grumpy and irritable when the alarm goes off on Monday morning. Stress at the beginning of the week can even take its toll on our health — blood pressure is usually the highest on Monday mornings, which makes people more likely to have heart attacks as well on Mondays.

Fortunately, there are ways to reverse this trend and set you up for a more optimistic start to the week. After doing some internet research and drawing on my own experience, I've come up with 8 rules to start the week energetically. 

(PS, If you do not work according to the traditional schedule from Monday to Friday, these rules can be adapted to your individual work and rest).

1. Friday make a to-do list for Monday.

On Friday, don't leave work until you've made a to-do list for next Monday. If you start the week without this list, you will have to brainstorm Monday morning to close last week's long-running projects, which can be difficult. A to-do list already drawn up on Friday will help you be more productive, and it will be easier for you to focus on current tasks. First, mark a few simple tasks on your Monday to-do list, and then tackle the hardest.

2. Follow the one-hour rule.

«Initially, it was thought that restorative sleep on the weekend is enough to make up for the lack of sleep on weekdays,» - says Annis Wilson, assistant professor of neuroscience and sleep medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. «More recent research shows that restorative sleep on weekends cannot reverse the effects of chronic sleep deprivation on weekdays.» Staying up late is also not a good weekend habit, as it can make you even more tired on Monday. Therefore, it is best to stick to a consistent sleep schedule for the entire 7 days of the week. At the very least, Wilson says, try not to go to bed or wake up more than an hour later or earlier than your usual time.

3. Monday morning breakfast — the most Important diet event of the week.

«A balanced breakfast will allow you to hear appropriate hunger and satiety cues throughout the day,» — says nutritionist Elise Resch, RDN, co-author of Intuitive Nutrition. You don't need to eat right after waking up, this is the biggest misconception people have about breakfast. If you get up at 6 am, you may not feel hungry, and that's okay. «Wait until you feel hungry. Then just have breakfast,» — Resch says. «Monday breakfast should contain 15 to 25 percent of the total calories (300 to 500 calories for women) per day.» — says Charles Spence, Ph.D., professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford. Try oatmeal with blueberries and walnuts, or whole grain sourdough and avocado toast with fruit and yogurt.

4. Put on your favorite clothes.

Monday is the day of new things. «Clothes help the wearer feel confident and comfortable — that's what we require on Monday morning,» — says Donn Karen, founder of the Institute for Fashion Psychology in New York. Choose bright colors, favorite fabrics and prints to modulate your mood. Pick up your clothes the night before to avoid the hassle of wardrobe choices on Monday morning.

5. Look for natural light.

A dose of natural light will help you to cheer up on Monday morning. Try opening the curtains, having breakfast, or taking a walk. «Light is like a cup of coffee,» — says Mariana Figueiro, Ph.D., professor and director of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. According to a 2018 study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, staying under natural light for five minutes can make you feel happy. Can't go outside in the morning? Change the light in the room to make it brighter, move the computer closer to the window, and paint the walls bright colors.

6. Create a Monday morning ritual.

«Our brains love our habits, and the less work it has to do, the happier it is,» — says Colleen D. Sira, PsyD, founder and CEO of the Cira Behavioral Health Center in Chicago. «A daily routine is a great way to conserve energy for challenging tasks.» Doing things as we do give us the illusion of being in control. For example, every Monday you can make a cup of tea, ride your bike to work and meditate in the morning. If there is something enjoyable built into your morning schedule, you will probably feel a little less stress and more positive when the alarm goes off on Monday morning. 

7. Plan entertainment.

An easy way to change Monday is to plan your next weekend! Plan an evening with friends, for example, to watch your favorite show together. The point is not in plans, but in the very thought — on Monday about the upcoming pleasure at the end of the week. Half the fun of any activity is anticipation, so it's important to have something on your weekly calendar that you'll look forward to at the end of the week. 

8. Attacks of kindness.

Bring positive energy into the world, and you will get it back, research confirms. «Good deeds at the beginning of the week give a sense of happiness and well-being throughout the week.» — says a 2018 study published in the Journal of Social Psychology. «Acts of altruism are associated with reward-processing areas of the brain,» — says study co-author Lee Rowland, Ph.D., a psychologist-certified at Oxford University. Find ways to be kind on Monday. Bring coffee colleague, write to a friend, which have not talked with a long to say that you miss her or him, or make a small donation to an animal shelter or protection of the environment. 

At the end of the first working day we invite you to a petting zoo animal Park (Kiev, VDNG) One hour in the company of wild animals will give you the strength to spend a week in the company of civilized people!