If you hate Mondays, you’re definitely in good company. After a few days off, many of us find it difficult to readjust to our work routines and tasks. You may even feel dread and anxiety seeping into the weekend in the form of “Sunday Scaries“.
You can’t always change your schedule or your obligations to make Mondays more appealing, but you might be able to “reprogram” your brain to think about the week differently.
Our brain likes predictability and routine. Research has shown that lack of routine is associated with decline in well-being and psychological distress.
Even though the weekend promises a quiet and enjoyable time, our brains are working hard to adjust to this sudden change in routine.
The good news is that the brain doesn’t have to try too hard to adjust to the freedom and lack of weekend routine.
However, it’s a different story when it comes to less enjoyable activities, like a Monday morning to-do list.
One way to adapt to the change after the weekend is to introduce routines that last all week and have the power to make our lives more meaningful.
These may include watch your favorite TV program, gardenwhere to go at the gym. It helps to do these things at the same time each day.
Routines improve our sense of consistencya process that allows us to make sense of the puzzle of life events.
When we have a set routine, whether it’s the routine of working five days and taking two days off or engaging in a series of actions each day, our lives become more meaningful.
Another important routine to establish is your sleep routine. Studies show that keeping consistent sleep time can be as important to enjoying Mondays as the length or quality of your sleep.
Changes in sleep patterns over the weekend trigger social jet lag. For example, sleeping later than usual and longer on free days can trigger a mismatch between your biological clock and socially imposed responsibilities. This is linked to higher stress levels on Monday mornings.
Try to keep a fixed time for going to bed and waking up, avoid naps. You can also create a 30-minute “relaxation” routine before bed by turning off or putting away your digital devices and practicing relaxation techniques.
Hack your hormones
Hormones can also play a role in how we feel about Mondays.
For example, cortisol is a very important multifunctional hormone. It helps our body control our metabolism, regulate our sleep-wake cycle and our stress response, among other things.
It’s usually released about an hour before we wake up (it helps us feel awake), then its levels drop until the next morning, unless we’re stressed.
During acute stress, our bodies not only release cortisol but also adrenaline in preparation for fight or flight. This is when the heart beats fast, we have sweaty palms and we can react impulsively. It’s our amygdala (a small almond-shaped area at the base of our brain) that hijacks our brains. It creates a lightning-fast emotional response to stress even before our brains can process and think if it was necessary.
But as soon as we can think – by activating the brain’s prefrontal cortex, the area of our reason and executive thinking – that response will be muted if there is no real threat. It’s a constant battle between our emotions and our reason. It might wake us up in the middle of the night when we are too stressed or anxious.
It should therefore come as no surprise that cortisol levels, measured in saliva samples from full-time workers, tend to be higher on Mondays and Tuesdays, with the lowest levels reported on Mondays and Tuesdays. Sundays.
As a stress hormone, cortisol fluctuates daily, but not constantly. During the week, as soon as we wake up, cortisol levels skyrocketand the variations tend to be higher than on weekends.
To combat this, we need to trick the amygdala into training the brain to recognize only real threats. In other words, we need to activate our prefrontal cortex as quickly as possible.
One of the best ways to do this and reduce overall stress is to engage in relaxation activities, especially on Mondays.
One possibility is mindfulness, which is associated with a cortisol reduction. Spend time in nature is another method – going out first thing on Monday or even during lunchtime can make a significant difference in how you feel about the start of the week.
Give yourself time before checking your phone, social media, and the news. It’s good to wait for the cortisol spike to naturally decline, which occurs 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. Reschkelecturer at the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences and funded researcher at the FutureNeuro research center, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences And Jolanta BurkeLecturer, Center for Positive Health Sciences, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
This article is republished from The conversation under Creative Commons license. Read it original article.