ian the pedestrian

Mondays in the office may be a crossroad for some if not all. Oftentimes this is called Monday Blues. You feel tired, lethargic and very much passive after a weekend of downtime. Believe it or not, this has something to do with your body clock.

Since there is no work schedule on a weekend, you spend overtime under your duvet or cuddling your bolster. You may have pushed back your bedtime on a Friday night for a booze with friends or purposely just didn’t set the alarm to wake up like how you get up on a normal work week. Contrastive sleeping pattern on the weekends over weekdays can wreak havoc your internal body clock and throws you off balance.

As a result, you may experience a “social jet lag” (a more sophisticated phrase for Monday Blues), a term coined by Dr. Till Roenneberg from Institute of Medical Psychology, University of Munich.

Social jet lag is due to the shift in sleep pattern that people experience during days off. Here’s the catch, his study shows that a change on sleep schedule is linked to obesity, and the risk of being obese rises about 33% for every hour of social jet lag.

To get back on track, below are some tips to help you get rid of your Monday Blues or  Social Jet Lag:

1. Be consistent with your sleep/wake pattern. Never deprived yourself from sleeping 7-8 hours a day every day.
2. If you can, don’t sleep longer on weekend just to fill in the deprived sleep from work week. Get up on your usual waking time and start your To-Do-A-List for that day immediately.
3. Try to limit your night life or booze affair. Remember, alcohol disrupts sleep.
4. Have an RTW plan. Depends on how you define this – ready-to-work or ready-to-wear plans on Monday. An example of ready-to-work plan is to look for someone you like in the workplace who will serve as your inspiration to enthusiastically start your week. Ready-to-wear plans is to put together your strongest OOTD. As they say, an elegant outfit could always make your day.
5. Make a mental note ahead of time on things you need to do on Monday. This will avoid clutter and will put you in order.
6. Perception is everything so don’t let negative impression hover the air. Start your day with a positive note as getting a good breakfast with a friend or by simply just sipping a great taste latte.

Mondays in the office may be uncompromising to conquer but with due discipline you will eventually learn how to manage it well. After all, it is simply just about managing your sleep and yourself. Try just 1 and 2. Get use to it. Then, you’re good all the way.