I used to think that the solution to feeling miserable on Mondays was to abolish the entire institution of named days. Meaning that all days are the same. You don't have weekdays versus the weekend, or workdays versus free days. All days are identical in terms of structure, so you work every day and have some free time every day.
Sometime later I realized the value in named days, even if you're an entrepreneur or an artist: it's easier to relax and recover regularly if you've conditioned yourself to think that the weekends are free. Whereas earlier I had to unwind daily, which could take hours since work related thoughts still dominated my mind, now I could just check the time on a Friday evening and click, a switch would go off in my head, and I would no longer think about work stuff.
But now, in 2021, after getting accustomed to the weekday/weekend paradigm, I face yet another phenomenon: the different Monday.
You see, I'm way past the idea of dreading Mondays. When Sunday afternoon rolls around, I begin to look forward to the new workweek. I think about all the projects I get to do, all the fun stuff I get to run and create. I think about the fun of writing, the excitement of shooting and publishing videos, and the challenges I get to tackle.
...and then, Monday arrives, and the inspiration that promised to be there is a no-show.
It's not lethargy or fatigue. It's not sadness or depression. It's not the bad world syndrome. So what the hell is it?
Oh shit.
It's The Numbing Effect.
(I know it's kind of lame to talk about one's own inventions as solutions to every problem. But I had planned to just rant about Mondays when I started writing, and the answer just popped into my head. So perhaps that justifies it a little.)
So the reason Mondays feel different is because the weekend has numbed you by lasting too long. Your brain thinks it's still Sunday, so it doesn't know it's supposed to be ready to grind. It thinks it can still relax and enjoy doing nothing.
Therefore, to banish the different Monday, you should
- take Mondays easy, or ease your brain into the new workweek, or
- work on one of the weekend days so as to not let your brain get used to the not-working, or
- work every day, including both weekend days.
The choice is yours. Just remember: option 1 could make the problem worse, and option 3 doesn't allow you to utilize the relaxation switch.
So, choose option 2.
The choice is yours.
RK
P.S. My book, The Numbing Effect: Make Easy Things Special and Hard Things Ordinary is available on Amazon.
