5 quick fixes to survive the Monday Blues
You may have had one of those totally hedonistic weekends and hate to come back to reality today. Or perhaps, just a lame one where you stayed in front of TV/Internet and vegetated away. ( Hey..I am not judging. I have been there too…oh-so-many-times). But what this could mean is, your plans to “plan for the week ahead” and get a jump-start on Monday, remained just that — a plan. And now you feel lousy.
Here are some quick fixes that may help you tackle those Monday blues a little better:
(1) The Best Medicine — this one will not fail
Stop whatever you are doing and exercise for 10 minutes. It can be 10 rounds of “Surya Namaskar” ( even 5 will do but please don’t try this if you have not been trained by an expert) OR just walking up and down the stairs of your apartment building.
If you don’t have time to put on your running shoes, just do 20 sit-ups in your bedroom/bathroom/kitchen…wherever. This has never failed me and I don’t think you will be disappointed too.
Why does this work? You may have read many articles about how exercise releases endorphin which help reduce pain, trigger a positive feeling in the body, etc. But for me there is a reason beyond this. The moment I do even a bit of physical exercise, I feel accomplished. That confidence you get when you have successfully completed a not-so-pleasing task. It stays with me the whole day.
(2) The power of gratitude — Don’t rubbish it
Everyone talks about it. But most of the cynics just rubbish it and don’t truly try it. Again, wherever you are,whatever you are doing just stop for a moment and focus on one thing you are happy about. Feel the happiness in your body. And say Thank you to the universe.
When the day or week is super lousy, and I can’t think of a single good thing to be grateful for, I even have a handy go-to image to say thanks for. I imagine my little niece and how she runs and hugs me when she meets me after a long time. Every single time — it makes me feel so grateful to be alive 🙂
Why does this work? Studies have shown that more “gratitude” has an inverse effect on “depression”. When you focus on the one thing you are genuinely grateful for, your whole perception of life takes an optimistic turn.
(3) The power of inspirational words
I have a set of very good inspirational books and articles I fall back on when I need a little pick-me-up.
If you don’t like reading much, you could try listening to an inspirational talk.
Allow me to share a TED talk by Shawn Achor which always help me get a better perspective.
Why does this work? Well, in the case of this talk by Shawn, he is backing it by scientific research. So you KNOW that this will WORK. Optimism at work again.
(4) Say a little prayer… for you
If you believe in God or any Universal Power, learn a small prayer that you can close your eyes and say. If you do not believe it God, have some positive affirmations handy. They should work too 🙂
Why does this work? While there are researches being conducted to see how brain functions change when you pray with devotion, I guess( in layman’s terms) it is because at that moment, you are relinquishing control to something much bigger than you. And you know that even if you don’t have all the answers, it is somehow going to work out OK.
(5) And finally, another sure-shot winner
Do or say something good to another individual outside your home.
There may be a colleague ( it would be better if it is not a close friend) who is usually ignored at work. The kind of person who may not usually get much attention. Is there something you can do for this person? May be get a cup of coffee? If not that, a compliment that you can give? Or perhaps, even a genuine, “Hello …How was your weekend?”
When you do a nice thing for someone else, it immediately puts you in a better frame of mind.
Why does this work? When you show kindness towards another person, you experience something called “Helper’s High. This is caused by elevated levels of dopamine in the brain.
In addition to this, my morning routine include journal writing, taking a walk outside in the early hours, etc But as they are not really a “quick fix” , I left them out of this article.
These “quick fixes” usually gets me the desired results. I would love to know if you have more quick fixes.
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