, and I, too, cringe at the thought of Monday. Why do Mondays get such a bad rap? They mess with our mind: Mondays signal another start to a probably hectic week full of responsibilities, and that the fun is over. When we think about Mondays, we remember how much we have to do and reality sets in again.
and mood. If you’ve ever felt a sense of dread hit you mid-afternoon on a Sunday or stayed up staring at the ceiling thinking of all the things waiting for you tomorrow, you know what we’re talking about. My patient observed that their anxiety tended to be highest right before starting the week. As I listened to my patient vent about this common inability to “turn off” mentally Sunday nights, I could empathize—and then I had a realization that I actually felt the same way.
Let’s address the first anxious thought: If you find yourself feeling bad about procrastinating last week or for not setting yourself up for an easier week ahead, instead of wishing you could go back and change the past, channel that anxious energy into having a more productive start to the week and tell yourself that you’ll make that big task a priority.
Putting to-dos to paper can help alleviate some of the stress by getting them off of your mind and into words; this acknowledgment is really you taking a small, actionable step. Seeing your tasks on paper can also help you get organized and put proper thought into how to check items off in an efficient way. I ask myself questions like,