by Shola Okubote

 

Does your heart beat faster with anxiety when your alarm rings on Monday mornings, do you wish the weekend is longer than your work days? Then try these tested secrets to overcoming the awful Monday-Phobia. Let’s see if it can work for you too.

 

Finish up – Don’t push till Monday what you can do on Friday, don’t leave your work unfinished to rush with excitement into the Friday evening partying. Whatever you run away from on Friday will surely be waiting for you on Monday morning; you wouldn’t even want to be fretting over that last nagging bit of work over the weekend. So make that call, send that email, go for that meeting, and submit that report. Who needs a screaming boss, a disgruntled client or an irritated collegeaue on a Monday morning anyway?

 

Clear out – You shouldn’t leave your workspace untidy before you leave on Friday, coming to a neat and organized workspace on Monday can boost your mental prowess. Tidy up, clear out your desk, file appropriately, do the shredding, put stationeries in the right places, sort out the files on your jam-packed desktop and if possible do a quick note of what to do next week in readiness for your work on Monday.

 

Enjoy – Have loads of fun! Make sure you enjoy and maximize your weekend, spend time with loved ones, exercise, watch TV, try out something new, simply do what makes you happy! If your job is not particularly what you enjoy, you might want to get involved in something that you are passionate about, help with the vintage shop at church, speak at the community youth meeting, go for hair making lessons, or help a friend plan her wedding.

 

Refuel – Most times you will have a pile of undone house work, family events, and many other things to attend to at weekends, and because you are trying to do as much as you can in a short while, it could leave you exhausted. Don’t go into the next week with that feeling of exhaustion, no matter how tight your schedule is. Spend time alone to refuel your spirit, think, meditate, pray and study. Re assure yourself of your life goals and what you want to achieve, you will sure feel refreshed and re energized ready to face the new week.

 

Plan – Don’t just rush into Monday, make a good plan for the week, think through all you have to do in the coming week and make a to-do list for work and for your personal stuff too. If possible fix a day in the week and a specific time for each of the task. It helps you face the week with confidence. If possible avoid setting urgent deadlines on this day. Try to spread your workload throughout the week.

 

Rest – Rest your mind, Rest your body and do not stay up late on Sunday. It will help against physical or mental exhaustion and make Mondays easier on your mind and body. Wake up early on Monday morning, leave home early enough to get to work on time. Getting to work late will cause you extra stress.

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Like it! – Find at least one reason to love your job while you are still at it. It could be the knowledge you get, the boss that mentors you, the relevance to your career path, your bills that get paid or the mere fact that it takes you out of the house. For as long as you are still on the job, find a reason to like it and be thankful for it, you will then dread it less on a Monday morning.

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Shola Okubote blogs at www.femmelounge.org and tweets as @femmelounge

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.