I USED TO ABSOLUTELY DREAD MONDAYS: TO THE EXTENT THAT THE VERY THOUGHT OF THEM WOULD RUIN MY ENTIRE WEEK.
These days, courtesy of a job I love and the ability to work from home, Mondays have lost their sting – a fact I’m grateful for on every single Sunday night. For those of you still feeling the Monday dread, however, here are five ways to make sure you get your week off to the best start…
01. BE PREPARED
Good Monday mornings start with good Sunday nights, so set aside some time to prepare for the week ahead. You don’t have to restrict this to Sunday either, if you’d rather spend that time squeezing in some extra relaxation: I normally spend part of Friday tiding up my desk, so I don’t come in to chaos on Monday morning, and before I finish work for the weekend, I like to sit down and write next week’s ‘To Do’ list, so it’s not on my mind when I’m taking time off. Planning out your outfits for the week is also a good way to avoid a last – minute panic: if you don’t feel like coming up with outfits for the entire week, at least try planning for the next DAY – and make sure your chosen outfit is clean, crease-free, and ready to jump into.
02. INDULGE IN SOME LUXURY SHOWER TREATS, GOURMET COFFEE, OR ANYTHING ELSE YOU CAN THINK OF TO MAKE YOUR MORNING A LITTLE SWEETER.
I don’t know about you, but for me, getting out of bed is always the hardest part. Once I’m up, and appropriately caffeinated, I’m good (Well, good-ish, anyway…), so in order to try and tempt myself out of bed, I try to arrange some little “treats”, as an incentive to get out of bed. This doesn’t have to be anything major, but sweet-smelling shower products, which make your bathroom feel a bit like a luxury spa, really good coffee, or something special for breakfast will all help sweeten the deal just a little bit.
03. BUY YOURSELF SOME FRESH FLOWERS ON THE WAY TO WORK
OK, you might look kinda funny walking through the office clutching a giant bouquet, but they’ll cheer you up every time you look at them, so cares what people think?
04. MAKE PLANS FOR LUNCH OR AFTER WORK
Until recently, ShoeperMan and I used to have a family dinner with my in-laws every Monday evening, and it was a really nice way to ease ourselves into the week – and have something to look forward to, to get us through those Monday mornings and afternoons. These days, we meet up with family mid-week instead, and while that’s ALSO a good way to make your week feel a little less like a long, hard slog, I must admit, I do miss those Monday meet-ups. Making plans to have lunch with a friend, or after-dinner drinks, say, is an excellent way to motivate yourself, though, and make Monday something to look forward to, rather than something to dread: if everyone’s busy, a solo shopping trip, or quiet cup of coffee sipped over a good book could also do the trick.
05. CHANGE YOUR JOB
I’ve left this point until last, because it’s not exactly easy advice to follow, but if you REALLY hate Mondays, then it’s the best possible thing you can do: trust me on this. I spent years in jobs I absolutely hated, and while all of the little tips and tricks above will certainly help to an extent, they won’t fix make you truly happy, or fix the much more serious issues you encounter when you’re stuck doing something you love. The best thing you can do in that situation, then, is to un-stick yourself, whatever it takes.
That’s much easier said than done, obviously, but I firmly believe it’s one of the only ways to have, not just a shoeper Monday, but a shoeper LIFE. When I finally made the decision to quit the job I hated and become self-employed, I fully expected it to change my working life: and it did – I ended up working much harder and longer, and for much less money. Which sounds pretty dire, right? What I wasn’t prepared for, however, was the fact that making that decision wouldn’t just change my working life – it changed every single aspect of my life. Yes, I was working harder than ever before, but now I was actually enjoying it: I was doing it by choice, and although I was putting in much longer hours, I had far more energy and enthusiasm than ever before, and that carried through into the rest of my life, too.
Doing a job you hate doesn’t just make you miserable when you’re at work: it makes you miserable all the time. In my last job, I found that even holidays, which should have been happy times, were ruined by job: I was so exhausted by my own misery that I’d spend the first few days sleeping (and having nightmares about being back at work – nightmares I STILL have, almost a decade after a quit), and the rest of the time dreading my return, and feeling so resentful about it I just couldn’t enjoy anything. I was permanently anxious and miserable, and that’s no way to live.
It might sound drastic, but the way I changed that – and finally learned to love Mondays – was by walking out, and finding a job I loved: even although I actually had to create it for myself. Like I said, that’s easier said than done: but if I did it, you can do it too – and if you stay tuned, I’d love to show you how…
