Monday's melancholy

On October 17, which fell on a Monday, there was tweet by Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt that went viral. ‘Why can't Monday Blues ever be happy?’ she wondered. She had tagged her Dear Zindagi co-star Shahrukh Khan, who replied that promise of a better day is what will cure her stress.

Monday Blues is no celeb phenomenon but affects most executives. According to a study reported in The Telegraph, of London people in the 45 to 54 age group are likely to suffer the most. Interestingly, Monday mornings are so depressing that, on average, most people don’t crack their first smile until 11:16 a.m. And most of them ‘moan’ for at least 15 minutes.

According to London-based clinical psychologist Alex Gardner, who led the study, the hatred of Monday mornings is governed by deep-rooted tribal instincts. “Work could be the best place for you on Monday because we are essentially cavemen in city suits,” he was quoted as saying. “We want to feel part of the tribe so we go for a cup of tea to catch up and then settle down to work. Having done the tribal bonding, we are geared up for a productive week while some people who have started all guns blazing on a Monday morning may burn themselves out.”

Author Sidhartha Sharma, who penned Thank God It’s Monday  and Love Your Monday and Retire Young, explains that it is nothing but a form of professional stress that people do not know how to handle. “Any situation which we are not prepared for brings with it potential stress,” he says. “Stress does not come from 10-15 hours of work you love, it comes from 10-15 minutes of work you do not like. If you enter office every Monday with that attitude, then you are bound to feel Monday Blues.” He adds that it is unfortunate to see people living only for the weekends and the vacations. “If you do not like weekdays, then 5/7 (approximately 70%) of your life is in bad shape. The profession you hate is too big a price to be paid for your entire life. Be smart enough and plan a good professional life in the long run,” he says.

How does one tackle the blues? Joy Sreenivasan, Dean (Programmes) with Indian Society For Applied Behavioural Science (ISABS), says that it takes extra effort to come out of the comfort zone in order to get relieved from Monday Blues. “Normally it is employees and students who face it. When it comes to employees, they are scared about the work load and pending assignments. If you approach your job as well as studies in a positive way, all days will be the same. See, if you are ready to wake up early with a positive thought after your weekly off and if you love your work, then you would be happy throughout the day.”

Sidharth says there are just two ways to professional happiness — do what you love or love everything you do and learn to find meaning in everything you do no matter how bad the situation is. Of course, there are also short-term solutions, as suggested in the study by Gardner. The top five ways to get over that horrible feeling on the first day of the week are watching TV, sex, online shopping, buying chocolate or make-up and planning a holiday.