UGH! A post about Monday, on a Monday — gimme a break, am I right?  Let me start by saying no matter if you work from home, stay home with the kids or work away from the home, Monday’s almost always suck. I don’t know why this is, but they do no matter what. My deep ughhhhhh feelings tell me the reason is because it’s the back to routine and reality day and the relaxing weekend is officially (whomp) over. Are you feeling super ughhh today?

I have been trying my best to hate Monday’s a little less, since I hated the fact that I hated them even more than actually hating them (so much hate). And in my efforts to make Monday’s much less hateful I found a few ways that actually work at making my whole day and Monday experience 10 times better. So if you’re like me and you ‘just can’t even‘ on Monday’s then maybe one or some of these tips will help you make next Monday (or maybe even this one) a smidgen better/less hateful and stabby.

MAKE SUNDAY YOUR PREP DAY – Instead of relaxing all Sunday long, use part of it (here and there maybe) as a prep day for the week. Do a bit of outfit planning for the next day (family style), maybe grab a few groceries, make some lunches, heck even batch cook a few meals to make the week easier. If you prep a little, Monday will run so much smoother and be way less of a stressful (i hate you) scramble all day long.

LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS – Really, everyone lower your expectations. For yourself and everyone around you, just plan to have a hurting brain on Monday. And if it’s working at full capacity you know it’s instantly going to be a great day. Getting things back in a productive mode after relaxing takes some time (pretty much your Monday), it isn’t like just turning on a car. So don’t expect Wednesday creativity and drive on a Monday, lower your expectations a little and then plan your day accordingly.

MONDAY / ADMIN DAY – Sometimes it’s hard to get your head in the game and be super creative and productive on a Lundi. So instead work on the things you’d regularly avoid, the things that interpret your creativity and productivity on a normal non-Monday. Save admin tasks and emails for the days when your brain is feeling less than powerful and then you’ll end up feeling great that you crossed all that stuff off your list.

PLAN A REALLY GOOD LUNCH – Make your Monday lunch the best one all week. Maybe even go out for lunch, instead of saving this cheat/treat lunch for Friday make it a Monday thing. Give yourself something to look forward too.

PRETEND IT’S FRIDAY – Plan to go out for drinks with friends on a Monday, or a movie and wine night inside, with or without company. Sure you’ll have to work the next day, but just make it an early fun night. Don’t save all your fun for the end of the week, don’t shun the fun on a Monday (sorry that was cheesey).

DON’T SLEEP IN ON THE WEEKENDS – If you have kids this is easy and you probably don’t even know what this looks and feels like anyways. But if you are your own alarm, skip the long sleep in on the weekends (at least on Sundays). I know it’s super awesome and you feel like you “finally caught up on all your lost sleep” but in reality it just screws up your week day schedule and you always pay for that on what day? Yup that’d be Monday.

PLAN FUN STUFF ALL WEEK – Don’t live for the weekends, plan fun lunches and night-time things all week-long. If you live for the weekends, Monday is always going to be the most painful day no matter how may tricks you try. The easiest way to make Monday’s less dreadful is to make the weekdays fun and exciting (or maybe relaxing) too.

DO SOMETHING ACTIVE – Start the week out on a good and really high healthy note. Hit up a Goodlife gym, go for a walk at lunch, practice yoga (you know you want too). Really whatever floats your boat, but the activity will boost your mood and just make you feel better about the fantastic weekend being over.

How do you get along with Monday’s? Do you have any tips to make that first day of the week better?