The powers that be gave us seven days each week. Each day elicits distinct emotional reactions. We all have our favorite day of the week. Some of us are eternal optimists and our day is Wednesday. Others love Tuesday, because it’s the most productive day of the week. Then there is the majority of us who can’t wait for Friday and live for the weekend. But there is one day we can all agree to snarl at and that’s Monday. Monday is the dreaded day we all associate with torture chambers and darkness.
So on this Monday, (or whatever day you’re reading this) I give you five reasons you dread your Mondays and why you aren’t wrong.
1. Weekend Hangover
This past weekend was an absolute blast. It started Friday night with a pub crawl with your buddies from college. You hadn’t seen them in years so you went all out, proving to each of them that you are STILL Frank Da Tank! Tomorrow is Saturday, so you don’t care how bad the hangover is because you have Netflix, a comfy couch and an endless supply of Aspirin.
Determined to press on and make the most out of your weekend, you crack open a brew, pop it in the cup holder on your lawn mower and attempt to make your backyard look like the outfield at Yankee Stadium. Who cares that it always comes out looking like a network of crooked squares, it’s your weekend!
Following that you get to spend more time with your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, kids or all of the above. You’ve planned a little outing to the park. Your kids are going to love the jungle gym, while you and your wife get some much needed hangout time. I mean life is good and why? Because it’s your weekend that’s why.
But, and it’s a big but, all good things must come to an end. As you sit on your couch; it’s now Sunday night, almost as bad as Monday itself. You mean to tell me after the past two days filled with epicness I have to go back to an artificially lit building where people tell me what to do? Ehhh, well there’s one reason I dread Monday.
2. Waking up Early
Unless you are one of the chosen few who found one employer who has a start time of noon on Monday. You’re getting up early. Saturday and Sunday were awesome, you slept until 11 AM. Even when you did get up you didn’t really get up. You just got up because you wanted to lay somewhere else.
But on Monday, your freedom has been temporarily stripped from your grasp. You don’t control your start time; someone else told you when your day will start. Therefore someone else has really told you what time to set your alarm. You dread Mondays because you don’t even control your own alarm clock, Monday through Friday!
3. I have 4 more days of this!!!
Yes, the feeling may start for some of us on Sunday night. Some may be skilled in the art of ignoring reality and the reality of Monday doesn’t hit until Monday morning. Nevertheless, it will hit you at some point on Monday that you have 4 more days of this work thing before you can weekend again.
It’s a sad reality for Monday. As you sit in your cube, office or commute there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You know you have 5 days to grind through. If it were Thursday you could stomach it, put up with it and just muscle through to Friday. But it’s not Thursday, it’s Monday and you’re just NOT feeling it.
4. Facing Friday’s Procrastination
You received an email on Friday that asked you to complete a project but didn’t say it was due that Friday. What did you do with it? That’s right, you pushed if off to the side and said, “Well, it’s Friday. And I have a strict no new projects rule for Friday.” Guess what, it’s Monday now and you know that person expects at least a confirmation email letting them know you got their little task.
Last Friday you justified setting a reminder on this email for Monday by saying, “There’s no way they expect me to actually work today, it’s Friday – practically the weekend.” Now that it’s Monday, you realize as you have in the past that you didn’t need a reminder. That project in the email is front and center in your mind. Isn’t it funny how Monday has its way of providing you with a comforting slap in the face as you return to reality?
5. Everybody else is ESPECIALLY annoying on Monday
I’ve always made it a point to thank God for giving me the gift of restraint. Mondays certainly put that gift to the test. If I actually said what I thought at work, especially on Monday, I would be gainfully unemployed. But isn’t it odd that things you would brush off your shoulder on say, Friday, become mini atomic bombs on Monday.
Watch out! Here come the mind numbing stories about everyone else’s awesome weekend with people you probably don’t know at places you would never go to in the first place. It’s time to strap on that fake smile as you listen to your boss tell you all about his or her phenomenal weekend. As you stare off into Whatever Land while listening to these intrusive regales you think to yourself, “This is why I dread Monday”!
There are probably 1000 reasons under the sun why most of us dread Mondays. It’s important to remember that you are not alone. Millions of other are going through the same exact agony as you are on this dreadful day. What are some of the reasons you dread Mondays. Leave a comment and let us know.
Last note: I apologize for those of you who have kids between the ages of 0-15, you may very well dread everyday unless your kids are saints that never ask for anything, change their own diapers and cook for themselves. Our hearts go out to you parents out there as you are stuck in a perpetual Monday until they move on out.
– Mansome Fellow signing off.
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