7 Tips to Increase Your Motivation to Work on Mondays

“I love Mondays,” said no one ever.

If Monday isn’t your favorite day, you’re not alone – most people share the agony of having to wake up early to start the dreadful 5 working days right after spending only two days off work.

Monday symbolizes the pile of undone workload you left on your desk. Monday signifies long, boring meetings, sucking up your energy and time. Monday represents the disappointed face of your boss after seeing your not-so-impressive progress report on the task at hand. Monday symbolizes the harsh reality you escaped from during the weekend but inevitably need to face.

But hey, Mondays don’t need to be that bad – in fact, it can kick-start a wonderful week. Here are 7 ways to increase your motivation to get up and work on Mondays.

1. Sleep early on Sunday

Feeling too exhausted and sleep-deprived to start the week? Maybe you really are. So treat yourself some 7-9 hours of deep sleep on weekends, especially on Sunday nights.

Sunday isn’t the best time to stay up til 3 am – if you’re well rested the night before, you’ll wake up feeling refreshed and excited to get moving. Wake up a little earlier than usual to give your brain a little startup time.

2. Make Monday a treat day

Instead of treating yourself on a Friday, why not save it for the first day to get a jolt of energy and kick-start the week?

Make Monday a day to look forward to. Treat yourself. Take the most comfortable transportation to work. Skip your everyday cup of coffee for a better version from quality coffee shops. Level up your meals at lunch.

You could also schedule night outs on a Monday, just to change the tedious routine of living for two days and being lifeless for the rest of the week.

3. Prepare a rough to-do list ahead

Chances are that you have no idea what to do on a Monday and the rest of the week. This leads to a lot of time wasted on procrastinating and figuring out what to do.

Spend the last 15 minutes of your Friday planning out the week to come. Schedule three to five small but necessary tasks for Monday. It can be some of the tasks you failed to accomplish over the past week or a new set of tasks for the week ahead.

4. Work with your body’s natural rhythms

Schedule tasks around your natural highs and lows.

One tip is to list down all your tasks and tackle the most cognitively challenging duties during your peak hours and save the “chill” tasks for the times when your focus and alertness are at their lowest.

Some people, who are quite slow in the morning, ease into work mode by scheduling tasks from the easiest to the most difficult. Other folks are pumped up to do the most urgent and challenging first so they could relax during the latter part of the day. Find out which works best for you.

5. Dress up

Another trick to make you deliver on a Monday? Dress like a pro.

It has been proven that people change their attitude depending on what they wear. Even if you work in a laid-back office setting, try not to wear your loose shirt and jeans that screams “I don’t care about my job.” Instead, go for your favorite work-appropriate outfit that makes you feel good, confident, and ready to meet the deadlines.

6. Detox from work during the weekend

You only have two days during the weekend – don’t use your precious hours or even minutes for checking e-mails and other work-related stuff. Don’t even think about it.

One of the reasons why people are too tired to work on a Monday is they fail to switch off from work. Use your Friday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays to recover from a stressful week and recharge for the week ahead.

You don’t necessarily need to sleep like a log the whole weekend – use your personal time for things that make you happy. You can decompress in a hotel, eat out with family and friends, get fit, create art, and learn or pick up a new hobby.

7. Find out why you’re unmotivated

Do you lack the motivation to perform at work, not only on a Monday but also on the other work days?

Is it the overwhelming number of impending meetings and deadlines? Or the negative work environment that includes office tension and politics? Or perhaps, you’re already experiencing burnout at work which stops you from being productive.

Identify the problem, stop the blame game and do something about it. That’s the most professional thing to do. If you’re experiencing a burnout, try to ask for a vacation. You can also do things you love after work to reduce stress or schedule fun dinner and movie nights in the middle of the week.

The truth is we have 52 Mondays each year so you need to learn to love them. Or at least make them worthwhile. And besides, it is the work you accomplish during the weekdays that pays the bills and takes you closer to your goals.

Author Bio: Carmina Natividad is a creative writer for HR Dept Australia, a provider of affordable and pragmatic HR services and employment law advice in Australia. Writing about helpful career management solutions for both employees and employers is her cup of tea.