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How to Survive Monday and the Rest of the Work Week
Leave me alonnnne! It's Monday!
It’s Monday. If you’re like me, last night went one of 3 ways. You went to bed late in an effort to prolong the weekend. You went to bed early thinking you would be able to get extra zzz’s but found yourself waking up even earlier because your body laughed at you for trying to get extra rest. Or, you laid in bed dreading Monday and the foolishness it would bring and found yourself going to sleep late accidentally.
If you’re an undergraduate student, I hate you and I want your life as long as you aren’t a math or science-based major. If you’re a grad student, I may want your life depending on what you’re studying but probably not. If you’re in residency or some other type of program that requires you to work for free, I do not envy you at all. If you’re unemployed and actively looking, take this post as a way to see why it isn’t so bad after all and that it’s important that you don’t just take any job. If you love your job on Monday morning, I hope you spill coffee or some other hot substance on your lap or get stuck next to a bum on a train that just deuced his pants. #illseeyouinmyeffems
In an effort to help out those who sympathize to some level, I’ve come up with a post on how to survive the work week starting with Monday mornings. Let’s indulge.
1. Set your alarm for Monday morning half an hour earlier than any other day of the week.
Most people are experts in fooling themselves. If you set your alarm an extra half an hour earlier, you’ll be able to hit snooze a couple times and at least sorta feel like you were able to sleep in. You’re going to be extra tired anyway, so why not?
2. Get to work 10 minutes early, turn your computer on and leave something on your desk, then leave the building.
A lot of us struggle to be on time for a multitude of reasons excluding CPT (If you don’t know, ask at least current and hip black people). Trying getting there 10 minutes early so that you feel good about yourself, then leave the office and go somewhere for about half an hour. It doesn’t matter where you go. Just put your jacket on and leave. And when you come back, your boss will accuse you of being late. At that point, look toward your desk and then say “I was here early getting organized.” He/she will hate you inside, but they’ll probably be lax about questioning you on future tardiness.
3. Sandbag as much work responsibility as you can on Monday and spend most of the day perusing blogs and fashion/hip hop/sports websites.
You know how on Wednesday the week seems really long? Yeah. You can change that. If you do nothing on Monday, you’ll have a sense of urgency and hopefully play catch up for the rest of the week which should keep you busy. And if you end up working late, it just looks like you’re working overtime. You get in early and stay late. What more could your boss ask for?
4. Work or appear to be working while everyone else is at lunch.
Again, you’ll look like an extra hard worker. The beauty of this is that you can disappear for an hour at another time during the day when all those people who would normally piss you off are at their desks. It’s like an extra break to clear your mind and save your sanity. I’d suggest taking lunch at a regular time one day per week with a co-worker so that you can still claim to be a team player.
5. Pick a SAT or dictionary.com word each day and use it in a situation where a more standard word would normally suffice.
If the person know what you meant, you’ll be impressed. If they don’t, the confusion and emerging insecurities on their face will make you laugh.
So those are just a few things you can do to survive the work week. What additions do you have? Are you already doing any or all of these things? Does anybody out there actually love going to work on Monday? Let us know.
Efficiently,
44 Responses to “How to Survive Monday and the Rest of the Work Week”
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i’m a grad student and it feels like i work a regular job (well one in my field). i really miss undergrad days (even tho i was a science majoe). here’s one thing that trumps them all:
-call in sick.
-also you could use your lunch to go to the gym and work out.
i dig taking lunch at a different time. i often work through lunch then take it around 1:30. usually go home and take a nap.
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Peyso Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:55 am
I was gonna recommend working out during lunch. It cuts your day into 2 distinct parts which (at least to me) makes it feel faster
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Slim Jackson Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:57 am
I’ve tried to do that before and I found myself rushing to get through stuff. I hate rushing when I’m at the gym.
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Peyso Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:19 pm
I know what you mean but I had to switch how I worked out and learned to take the correct amount of rest between sets
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N.I.A. HappyMonday!! Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:18 am
I don’t like going to the gym during work hours, but I do take a power walk every day(weather permitting) during my lunch. Not as cardio blasting as working out at the gym or going for a run at the park. But it does help the day go by a little quicker.
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Monday sucks for the unemployed as well. It’s the day you have to work your ass off the most to send out resumes and cover letters in order to be amongst the first to respond to a company’s ad on Monster/Craigslist/Beyond or whatever other website you use.
You also have to atone for all of your slack job searching from the weekend (which may have started on Friday, smh).
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Slim Jackson Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:50 am
Ah yes. The Monday Morning Scramble. I’ve heard about this and seen the effects of it as well. Gotta have all sorts of alerts set up to send you relevant things daily then you gotta hustle like a gun just went off for the 100m sprint. Might as well be up at 630 anyway.
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Nik Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Sometimes I just cheat and don’t go to sleep the night before and then knock out midday after submitting a decent amount of resumes or applications!
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Good post!
I utilize #2 and #4 on a regular basis. At least 3 times a week, I get in early, turn on PC, speak to co-workers, then bounce. Pickup my starbucks(Grande Soy White Chocolate Mocha FTW!!), get a bagel at a local cafe, get the morning paper, and chill out for the next 30-35 minutes. Whenever I do this, I always have a good day.
And I ususally take late lunches, so while everyone else is in the lounge, or out of the office, I’m at my desk hard at work on the new project.
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CHeeKZ Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:55 am
plus when you take a late lunch your afternoon is short.
I miss working in the bank, we use to have the shortest days. Home by 3:30.
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Slim Jackson Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:59 am
What time did you have to get in?
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CHeeKZ Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Unless you work at TD Bank, you have banging work hours.
Only sucked to be a Teller, b/c they are paid by the hour.
But Bankers and Managers have it sweet.
8:15 to 3:00. But you have to work at the right location that didn’t have a bunch of last minute customers. Anywhere with ewJs (misspelled on purpose) should be avoided.
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Smiley Face Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:15 am
lol…same reason I love late lunches. My work day ends at 3….sure I’ll go to lunch with you at 1, no problem
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ASmith Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:13 am
Late lunches are the greatest #trickeries…
You look like you’re working hard as hell and then when everyone returns (to work hard to make up for the long lunch they took) no one notices you’ve slipped away.
Yasss…
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N.I.A. HappyMonday!! Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:32 am
YESSS!! And, no one pays attention to how long you’re gone.
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CHeeKZ Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:18 pm
CO-SIGN! I am the master of ^THIS.
We are talking about pullng 90mins lunches, just based off of the world famous “I was caught at my desk, and couldn’t leave at the designated time”.
*insert evil villain laugh*
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I DO NOT know how I’ll be able to make it without #1….OMG!
*raises hand* I am an undergrad and by the time noon rolls along, I’ll be walking out of my 4th class of the day.
Sheeeit…Sometimes I hate myself for being difficult and no longer want this major of mines. Mr. Slim, you can have my life!
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I’m a year and a half into this whole working thang and they can have it back. I’m ready to go back to school cause I can’t with this… nope, nope, nope.
I have to get to work early because I’m not a morning person and the people I work with are, so… the extra time a) keeps me out of horrible morning traffic, keeping my pressure down, b) helps me avoid the long ass lines to get in my building (you wouldn’t BELIEVE how many people don’t know metal detectors detect metal) and c) allows me some time to breathe deeply and be able to at least force a fake smile by the time everyone else rolls in…
I take late lunches because I hate lines and people and because it helps the afternoon go by way faster.
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School is my job. I always say that I can’t wait to be done with this hell. Not because I don’t love school (sometimes), but damnit I’m tired of living semester to semester. I need to earn some dough. Plus, being in school for as long as I have feels like being a benched athlete. You go to practice day after day, but don’t really get to play in the game that matters. I’m ready to start my life.
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I get to work a hour later than most people on my unit. They’re here at 8 and I dont get here til at least 9/930. Then I blog until about 1030. By the time I start actually working its 11am.
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ASmith Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:09 am
I do courtesy work (that is stuff that either has to be done by the am or things left over from the day before) until most people are in the office and then I go to blogging.
Like you, by the time I get to real work it’s almost noon. ::shrug::
And yet I still win.
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I love, love, love my job (even though currently I dont like it) I work in student affairs (all the non academic stuff) in higher ed so even work seems like not working example, I checked FB today to do some background checks on students we are considering hiring for summer positions. I peruse blogs and other things because most of it is current and trendy and potentially adds to our student’s development or our understanding of what our students are involved with.
today however I am not enjoying, I have been awake since 3am, could not fall back to sleep, so you know I am in need of a nap right now. Gave up coffee for lent so I cant even use that to energize me. however I did get to work on time today and have been productive for the past two hours. now I just need to make it through the rest of the day.
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ASmith Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:20 am
Oh yes… FB background checks.
I’ve started doing that for our interns. Especially ones who went to my alma mater.
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Peyso Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:56 am
boooooo to you too lol jk
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“I checked FB today to do some background checks on students we are considering hiring for summer positions.”
I’m not quite sure how I feel about this.lol.
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Intellectual Hedonist Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:19 am
you can feel how you want, that is what they get for being dumb and posting the pictures from their illegal beer pong fest held in their residence hall = no summer job with me
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Peyso Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:55 am
booooooooo lol jk
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CHeeKZ Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Snitches get stiches..
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“You went to bed early thinking you would be able to get extra zzz’s but found yourself waking up even earlier because your body laughed at you for trying to get extra rest.”
This was me. I just SWORE I would be all refreshed and ish this morning. Yeah, um, no. #goodnightsrestFAIL I woke up at least two times during the night, one at 3:30am and one at 5:30am. Now, I feel like I ain’t sleep 5 minutes.
“Does anybody out there actually love going to work on Monday?”
I’d like to meet this creature and shake his/her/its hand.
Oh, do I have anything to add? Naw, it’s Monday, honey.
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Slim Jackson Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:11 am
“Oh, do I have anything to add? Naw, it’s Monday, honey.”
Point noted.lol.
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I actually don’t mind Mondays. I don’t do much most weekends, so I look forward to starting a new week. And at least once a month I’m off on a Monday. Now Saturdays are a different story. I absolutely hate working on Saturdays. I always feel like so much is going on and I can’t get everything I need accomplished. I will make sure to try these tips when I work this Saturday.
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Ahhhh yeas Slim!
I was quite pleased when I looked over at my Blackberry (when I woke up 30 mins before my alarm) this am and saw this post!! It was greatly appreciated and instrumental in me actually not hitting snooze. I am the worst morning person (unless I am waking up to anything else besides getting up to go to work…for example, cup-caking) and I am even worse come MONDAY mornings.
Situations 1, 2, and 3 helps me deal the best! I come in, early, answer a couple of easy emails, and then I go around to the girls and play catch up. This is how it has to be, or else I will be highly moody all day…and since no one likes my screw-face here…I must say that this routine not only benefits me but the entire office as well.
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I don’t work a regular “M-F 9-5″ gig so I don’t mind Mondays since they’re really my Thursday. I HATE weekends with a passion. It’s the busiest time of the work week for me. I haven’t had an actual weekend off in almost 2yrs. Boo hoo for me
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Slim Jackson Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Yeah, that sounds worse. Are you in retail?
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Andrienne Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Foodservice…don’t it get me wrong it’s a GREAT job (family biz and all) so that makes it bearable, but long weekends???? SHiiiiiite, haven’t had one of those off in almost three years! But I’m not complaining
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Hey i’ve been reading this blog regularly for over a year now but i never comment. I’m an undergrad student but I can totaly relate to this hate of monday mornings. Not only do i have to get up early n face the ungodly NYC morning rush hour commute to get to work n deal with my idiotic arch nemesis of a coworker >:( , but then after a long day of reading my fave blogs AND getting a decent enough amount of work done so that they don’t realize that they actually don’t need me here, i gotta go and punish in night class 3 days a week!
I’m actually wishing and praying for the day that i can finally be done with school (including the punishment of law school that i plan to bestow upon myself) and i can finally just have a job. I know it sounds insane but, it seems like that is gonna be the first chance i get to “relax” since leaving highschool. lol
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Slim Jackson Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:11 pm
You’ll come back to this post in a few years, brush the dust off your comment, then edit it to say “nevermind”. Welcome to the commenting mix!
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I would amend you blog point to say Get work done from 9-1030, then check out some blogs… or if your in rest mode, check em before 930. Knocking out that first hour helps set a good tone.
Everything else is a #swindle. I respect it though!
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#4 is a classic. Since I usually bring my lunch in order to stick to my nutrition plan (isnt that a hot way of saying diet?!) I eat at my dest…I usually keep a spread sheet open and minimize whatever website Im really looking at and when I see someone coming, flip back to the spread sheet. LOL.
I also tend to work the equivalent of 4 9 hour days and on Friday take off at like 12 noon, 1 pm. Its like giving yourself a treat at the end of the week.
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Yea, I’ve been checking blogs & Twitter all day. By tomorrow or Wed (at the latest) I should be ready and motivated for work. Also, I notice my dread of Mondays depends on my weekends. If the weekend was boring then I’m ready to go to work, if the weekend was good then I really dread work. But either way I dread work as my job is not my fave.
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I feel like one of the only undergrads out there that’s ready to switch places with someone in the real world. Been pulling hair out over this debate for the past year and a half (yes I’ve had time to think about this and I’d rather be a FT worker than a FT student).
But my Mondays sucks. Off campus resident that commutes. (no car so that’s the CDTA – Capital District Transportation/Transit Authority for me). Class @ 10 15am gap from 11 45 to 5 30 (fuck my life hard in the ass) and then class 5 45 to 8 35. AND I sleep late on sundays.. EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY. *hangs head in shame*
I hate Mondays.. the end of a stupid 3 day weekend.
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Debonair NUPE Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
aaaahhhhh the CDTA! Boy do I remember those days. And taking the bus from downtown Albany to Troy sometimes in the horrible snow was no punk…HOWEVER, DO NOT GET IT TWISTED! FT worker is not what you want…not in this economic climate. Enjoy school.
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Sue Reply:
February 23rd, 2010 at 4:01 pm
*sigh* I knew someone would disagree. You were in Albany?? And >_< I HATE going on wolf road with the bus. Yeah it's free but sheesh.. A break please?
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Thanks for your marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you’re a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back down the road. I want to encourage you to definitely continue your great posts, have a nice weekend!
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