7 ways to beat the Monday blues
Indulge
Marmite may not be to your taste, but the sandwich spread company have come up with a top-notch solution to battling the nation’s Monday blues. Marmite conducted a study that investigated what were the best ways to improve your Monday mood. Their findings suggest that watching TV, having sex, shopping online, eating some chocolate, buying makeup and planning a holiday are some of the best ways to improve your mood. So, why not indulge a little during your lunch hour and catch up on your favourite show using your tablet or buy yourself a little treat. You could even pop into a travel agent and browse through their dreamy holiday catalogues.
Sort our your life
Over the weekend we all tend to overeat, overspend and overindulge, which is one reason why Monday morning makes us feel so bad. Beat the blues by sorting your life out. Begin by making a tick list of tasks you need to do and things you’d like to achieve. For example, you might write down that you want to do all of your washing, finish off that project at work you’ve been working on and eat three healthy meals today, as well as fitting in a workout. Now you’ve got a plan for the day begin to work hard to tick off each item and be amazed by the incredible satisfaction you get from ticking off yet another task. Make sure your list is achievable though; piling on too many tasks that you can’t possibly get through will only add to your feeling of guilt.
Have a chat
Despite having two days off over the weekend, apparently having a chat can help us overcome our Monday blues. Your boss may not be happy about this tactic, but according to clinical psychologist Professor Alex Gardner, we need to reconnect with the team we work in after the time off. Professor Alex Gardner suggests that once we have socialised at work, having a catch up over a cup of tea for instance, we are then able to begin work and might be more productive over the course of the day compared to those people who did not mingle with their colleagues and who instead started work as soon as they arrived.
Stop drinking
If you’ve been suffering from severely down days when Monday hits, and have been living a bit of a wild lifestyle over the weekend, you might find that alcohol is contributing to your terrible mood. Alcohol is a depressant and interferes with our normal brain functions. One side effect of this is that alcohol, when regularly consumed, can lower the serotonin (the happiness hormone) levels in our brain, which will negatively affect our moods. If you think you’ve been drinking too much at the weekend try cutting back or stopping altogether to see if your mood improves.
Quality pet time
Once your Monday blues set in, spend some time with your cat or dog. Researchers from the University of Missouri found that petting your animal pal for just 15 minutes has a huge effect on your mood. Apparently stroking a dog or cat releases serotonin and oxytocin, which boosts our moods. Spending time with these animals also lowers the amount of cortisol in our bodies, which means you will also feel less stressed. We always knew Bring Your Pet To Work Day was a great idea.
Paint a picture
Get in touch with your creative side if you want to beat the Monday blues. According to a study undertaken by researchers in a Boston College study, creating artwork that vents or expresses our negative moods is a great way to increase our feeling of happiness. If whacking up a huge canvas and donning your painting overalls at work wouldn’t go down too well, try drawing a doodle on a scrap of paper or use a creative app like Bamboo Papers or Adobe Ideas to unleash your hate for Mondays artistically.
Become Beyonce
Transforming into Beyonce would be a pretty great way to beat the Monday blues, but even we can’t make that a reality for you. However, what we do suggest is that when you’re in your car or on your lunch hour you turn up the radio and sing your heart out. According to researchers from the University of Manchester, singing can improve your mood because singing affects the sacculus organ, which is found in your inner ear and which registers pleasure. So, when you open up and sing you’ll get a rush of endorphins and this will make you happier and wash away those nasty Monday blues. Beat your Monday blues with these 10 instant mood boosters. Read more on realbuzz.com...
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