Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to make Monday's more enjoyable.
Speaker 1: Monday's definitely get a bad reputation if you believe what
Speaker 1: you read online, they may actually be dangerous. One study
Speaker 1: found that the risk of a heart attack was greater
Speaker 1: on Mondays for adult men and greater for adult women
Speaker 1: than on other days. Now, I will say I don't
Speaker 1: want to blame this all on work. Further analysis has
Speaker 1: found that even retirees see a spike in heart attacks
Speaker 1: on Mondays, and they don't have a boss expecting them
Speaker 1: at their desks at eight am sharp. So possibly these
Speaker 1: statistics are delayed reaction to how people behave on the weekend,
Speaker 1: and they're not the fault of Monday itself. That said,
Speaker 1: a few people list Monday as their favorite day of
Speaker 1: the week. But I think it's quite possible to enjoy
Speaker 1: Mondays even if you don't love your job. There's a
Speaker 1: lot you can do to make Mondays into something to
Speaker 1: look forward to rather than dread. The key is thinking
Speaker 1: about how you spend your Monday's and then building in
Speaker 1: a treat or two structurally into your schedule. If you
Speaker 1: like to exercise in the morning before work, maybe you
Speaker 1: and a good friend could arrange to meet each Monday
Speaker 1: morning to go for a walk or run together. Spending
Speaker 1: time with people who energize you is one of the
Speaker 1: best mood boosters around. Couple that socializing with exercise, and
Speaker 1: you're going to start Monday with a bang. Your commute
Speaker 1: can also be a source of joy. The easiest option
Speaker 1: is to save a favorite podcast for your Monday morning drive.
Speaker 1: You can listen to before breakfast any weekday morning, but
Speaker 1: a number of podcasts come out just once a week,
Speaker 1: so slot a favorite to Monday and you might find
Speaker 1: yourself looking forward to getting on the road. Another smart
Speaker 1: idea is to schedule a recurring lunch with work friends
Speaker 1: every a Monday. You and two to three co workers
Speaker 1: could grab lunch together at a year by restaurant. That way,
Speaker 1: even if you don't particularly enjoy what you're doing between
Speaker 1: the hours of nine am and twelve thirty pm, when
Speaker 1: your alarm goes off Monday morning, you know you're only
Speaker 1: a few hours away from good food and catching up
Speaker 1: with great company. Some people tell me they build and
Speaker 1: treats on Monday evenings to reward themselves for getting through
Speaker 1: the work day. If you have a hobby, why not
Speaker 1: try to engage in that hobby on Monday nights. You
Speaker 1: could join a choir that meets on Mondays, or a
Speaker 1: volleyball league with Monday night games. You could organize a
Speaker 1: regular T G I M Happy hour. You could find
Speaker 1: a favorite class at your gym and go to the
Speaker 1: Monday night option. Or maybe your family does something fun
Speaker 1: together on Monday nights. You take your family out to
Speaker 1: a favorite restaurant, or you do some other adventure like
Speaker 1: going on a walk or playground trip together if it's light,
Speaker 1: if you tend to shuttle kids around to Monday night
Speaker 1: sports practices, building something fun for you like thirty minutes
Speaker 1: reading a favorite book, And don't write off your work
Speaker 1: itself as a potential treat. Now, that might sound a
Speaker 1: little strange to think of work as a treat, but
Speaker 1: even if you're not in your dream job, there are
Speaker 1: probably some parts of your job you like. We talked
Speaker 1: in a previous episode about how if you have a
Speaker 1: tendency to procrastinate, Monday morning can be a good time
Speaker 1: for doing the toughest parts of your job and getting
Speaker 1: them over with. But if that's not the case for you,
Speaker 1: then maybe the first hour or two of Monday morning
Speaker 1: can be reserved for the project you like best. You know,
Speaker 1: the one you're actually excited to work on when you
Speaker 1: start Monday excited. That feeling can help you survive the
Speaker 1: rest of a challenging work week. So today, think through
Speaker 1: how you normally spend your Monday's. Think about what treats
Speaker 1: you could build into your normal Monday schedule. What would
Speaker 1: you look forward to? Because if you can turn yourself
Speaker 1: into the kind of person who looks forward to Monday's,
Speaker 1: I promise you'll have a much more joyful life. In
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b the number
Speaker 1: four than breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
Speaker 1: me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much. I look forward to
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