The more homogenous your Sunday becomes to your Monday, the happier you will be.
I recently posted this quote on my instagram and want to expand on it.
I’ll be the first to admit it: I’ve had jobs in my life where “Sunday scaries” was a real thing. Sadly, this continues to be a problem for most people. This one study of 1,000 respondents found that 81% experience “elevated anxiety on Sunday in anticipation of Monday”. This is incredible.
What’s most concerning to me is that if this mental experience is allowed to happen on a repeated basis, it would likely reframe your brain in a significant way; making you more anxious and stressed in general. This would be terrible.
So here are some solutions that have worked for me and may help you too.
Take a pen and paper and draw a two column table. On the left side, list every aspect of your job that you dislike (or hate). On the right side, write down ways you might be able to make these pains more manageable or even disappear entirely. Spend time on this, please. Don’t give up too easily. Yes, some problems may not be resolvable, I get it, but think deeply and there might just be something there, even if it seems incremental.
Define the purpose of your company at a human level. Believe it or not, your company, and what you do for it, is making a customer happier. Discover who these people are and realize how you are playing a part in their happiness. This perspective, if you repeat it to yourself over time, will have a positive effect on not just your Sunday scaries, but your overall happiness. There is nothing more uplifting for us than the awareness that we are making a difference for others. Leverage that and you’ll be happier.
The final idea is a little out there but consider it: Another way you can find meaning in your work is to practice associating your non-work joys to your work. Focus on the idea that it is your work that is empowering your joys. Yes, your work also pays your rent and all that boring stuff, but these associations don’t get you emotionally. So what do I mean? Say you were someone who gets the greatest joys from cooking, and you made an amazing ricotta on a Saturday evening; try giving some of that joyous credit to your job. It sounds crazy, I know, but it is just the kind of mental hack that can have profound benefits to our well-being.
Comment below. I’d love to hear your perspectives.
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