If you hate Mondays, then you’re in good company. After a few days of rest, many of us struggle to get back to our routines and activities. You may have feelings of fear and anxiety that creep into the weekend like “Sunday terrors”.
You can’t always change your schedule or your role to make Mondays fun, but you can “rewire” your brain to think about the week differently.
Our brains are prone to predictability and habit. Studies have shown that lack of routine is associated with decreased well-being and depression.
Although weekends are a time of relaxation and fun, our brains work hard to adjust to this sudden change.
The good news is that the brain doesn’t need to work hard to prepare for the weekend’s freedom and lack of routine.
However, it’s a different story when getting back to the boring stuff, like the Monday morning to-do list.
One way to make a change on the weekend is to start a routine that lasts throughout the week and has the power to make our life meaningful.
This could include watching your favorite TV show, gardening, or going to the gym. It is better to do these things at the same time every day.
Routines make us connected, which makes us aware of life’s events.
When we have a regular routine, be it a routine of working five days and taking two days off or doing several things each day, our life becomes meaningful.
Another important habit to establish is your bedtime routine. Research shows that maintaining a regular bedtime may be just as important to enjoying a Monday as the length or quality of your sleep.
The change in sleeping patterns on weekends causes problems. For example, going to bed later than usual and sleeping longer on days off can cause a mismatch between your body clock and the responsibilities you face. This is related to high pressure Monday morning.
Try to keep the time you go to sleep and wake up, avoid sleeping. You may also want to create a routine of “winding down” 30 minutes before bed, by turning off or unplugging your technology and trying relaxation techniques.
Hacking your hormones
Hormones can also play a role in how we feel on Monday.
For example, cortisol is an important hormone that has many functions. It helps our bodies regulate our metabolism, regulate sleep patterns and respond to stress, among other things.
It is usually released about an hour before we wake up (it helps us stay awake), and then its levels drop until the next morning, unless we are stressed.
Under severe stress, our bodies release not only cortisol but also adrenaline in preparation for fight or flight. This is when the heart beats fast, we have sweaty hands and we can act impulsively. This is our amygdala (a small almond-shaped area at the base of our brain) that hijacks our brain. It creates a very fast response to stress even before the brain can process and think if needed.
But soon we can think – activating the brain’s prefrontal cortex, the place for our thoughts and higher thoughts – this response will be reduced, if there is no real threat. It is a constant battle between our thoughts and imagination. This can wake us up in the middle of the night when we are stressed or anxious.
It should come as no surprise that cortisol levels, measured in the saliva of people who work full-time, are higher on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the lowest levels are reported on Sundays.
Like the stress hormone, cortisol changes daily, but not always. During the week, as soon as we wake up, cortisol levels rise, and the variation is higher than at the weekend.
To overcome this, we need to trick the amygdala by training the brain to recognize real threats. In other words, we need to activate our prefrontal cortex as quickly as possible.
One of the best ways to achieve this is to reduce stress and relax, especially on Mondays.
One possibility is mindfulness, which is associated with decreased cortisol levels. Spending time in nature is another way – going outside first thing on Monday or even at lunchtime can make a huge difference in how you feel at the start of the week.
Give yourself time before checking your phone, social media, and the news. It is best to wait for cortisol levels to decrease naturally, which happens about an hour after waking up before exposing yourself to external stressors.
By following these simple tips, you can train your brain to believe that weekdays can be (almost) as good as weekends.
Cristina R. Reschke, Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences & Funded Investigator in the FutureNeuro Research Center, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and Jolanta Burke, Senior Lecturer, Center for Positive Health Sciences, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
This article is reprinted from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the first article.
