Monday is not my friend
Is that a Monday problem or one I should be dealing with?
Monday and I have a fractious relationship.
I keep trying to convince myself that if I just setup Monday properly, the rest of the week will fall into place.
If I get rid of the straggling work. Do the hard things. If I prohibit meetings.
Something, somewhere, a magic will take place that will bring me all the things.
But what happens mostly on a Monday is that the plan I wrote for Sunday is rejected. I excuse this for chasing whimsy and white rabbits. And I end up with yet another day of half done, poorly drawn, unhappy work from a meat melon that feels battered by doing all the wrong things.
Why then do I do this?
Am I pushing for an excuse to call it a day?
Is there something to be said for connecting with work continuously so that my engine doesn’t stop revving?
Maybe, its because I hated Mondays as a kid? I was bullied at school, so school meant back to the grips of my tormentors.
What happens on Monday is that I happen to Monday.
I become obsessed by pressure. Checking the bank account, waiting for the invoice. Treating it like a day that will make or break my freelance existence. Planning it into oblivion. Rejecting it has a shape to itself over and over again.
What I am escaping now though? Well, it doesn’t make sense.
Unless you breakdown what happens on a Monday in earnest.
My partner leaves for work, and there goes the company
People pop onto social media with all their motivation posts
Business is the order of the day on Mondays - it feels ordinary somehow to escape it
Monday is reliant on everyone around me functioning well - this is a rare occurrence
It is a reminder I am one more week away from the things I haven’t crossed off last week - or the work before that
It is a day that doesn’t permit freedom
What I am really saying about Monday is this:
I need more human interaction in my working week
I should celebrate instead of compare my peers
An embedded idea of productivity is souring my day that I need to challenge
Easing into the week is a recognised approach
What spills over on a TO DO list is a reminder not to overload myself
Freedom from obligation is a necessary part of a productive and healthy workday
I can be my best or my worst boss - the decision is in how I frame it
Image: If Monday is not my friend, Is that a Monday problem or one I should be dealing with?