Monday, December 14, 2009

Monday Fun-Day!

I know how most of us approach Mondays. My husband moans and groans starting on Sunday afternoon, upset that his lazy weekend has to end and he has to face traffic, dress up, and spend the day in meetings or bossing people around (in gentle ways, of course). The temptation is to grimly face a whole week of working, knowing it will be DAYS before you get to wear those sweats all day. 

Why not approach this differently? Make a pact to go out to eat every Monday night, or take somebody to lunch at work, or carve out an hour in the afternoon to work on that novel/play/poem/painting/etc. The only watchable television is Monday Night Football, and that is only watchable for a specific viewing audience, so turn it off and play a game with the kids, or curl up to a good book you've been saving. 

I'm planning on doing absolutely NO real work today. I'm saving the class grading tasks for tomorrow (several script analyses, and discussion grades for the entire semester), and except for doing the dishes (only because I have no clean spoons), I don't intend to lift a finger I don't want to. No wrapping trash, no cat box cleaning (sorry, Skooker), no work. I might spend the morning watching the three remaining episodes of BBC's "Robin Hood" (insert drooling here), or reading, or finishing up my novel revising, or whatever. 

And don't tell me, "Well, some of us have to go to work." Yes, you do, but that doesn't mean you have to do much when you are there, or do it with a lousy attitude. And whatever you do, make it fun. Laugh. Be lazy. Or if being lazy brings you down, work super hard, cross everything off your list, and then leave an hour early so that you can pick up a few videos on the way home. (Videos? On a Monday? Are you kidding? No, I'm not!)

Don't accept your Monday as it is. Make it into something you actually want to do. Become your own Pollyanna, and make your Monday great enough that you look forward to the next one.

6 comments:

  1. Our abilities to move things around or adjust Mondays at work may be limited. However, the notion of finding something in Mondays to celebrate and brighten it up is sound.

    On the other hand, to be fair, some consideration should be made for those who don't have the leisure to plan their Mondays to suit themselves.

    Just sayin'.

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  2. Should add that the "crush" to get far too much work done before a prime contractor rushes off for two weeks off is flavoring my attitude. I hate not being able to go home "on time" for weeks at a time.

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  3. Probably as much as I hate grading papers once the kids are home... especially when I have to grade until midnight or so, several days in a row.

    I might just be cheery because after weeks of late work on Mondays, I'm finally ending up the semester.

    Sorry you don't run on the semester system. How much time will you have off for the holidays? Anything?

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  4. I tend to like most mondays... but hate sundays because monday is right around the corner, but like you said, with the right mind set it should not be so bad...

    good post.

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  5. I'm taking two weeks off. Been a while since I took off such a chunk of time, but, hey, I'm going to anyway.

    Hope that will help my "monday" problem.

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  6. I know exactly how you feel, Jeff--or, at least my husband does.

    So glad you are taking off two weeks! It will certainly do you good (or at least it should!)...

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