You'll Never Get the Monday Blues Again After You Read This

Ah, the Monday Blues, that loathsome adversary; ready to wreck any week with stress, worry, and general melancholy. And while some people call the Monday Blues the Sunday Scaries—the preparation for the awful morning ahead—either way, "they are a sad emotional outlook professionals tend to have about the approaching workweek," says millennial career expert Jill Jacinto. It's a feeling almost everyone faces.

"No matter how much you love your job, Mondays are tough," admits 33-year-old Rosette Pambakian, who works as Tinder's global vice president of communications and branding. "It’s not easy to shift your mind-set into work mode after a few days of fun and relaxation. For me—and probably for most women with high-stress careers—Mondays are undoubtedly the most hectic day of the week."

Left unchecked, the Monday Blues can bust your entire week. "They can affect your overall motivation for work, and cause you to lose focus and get behind on projects," warns life coach Stacia Pierce. "Negative feelings also travel fast. The Monday Blues are contagious, and you could spread them around like a virus." And no one wants that.

But you can nip the Monday Blues in the bud with these expert-approved tips and tried-and-tested strategies from women who start every week off right.

1. Pinpoint the problem.

Just because we all get the Monday Blues from time to time doesn't mean it's a one-size-fits-all problem. Challenge yourself to find the source of your anxiety, whether it's a recurring morning meeting or a true dislike of your job. "Once you have come to terms with the real issue, you can address it and move on," says Pierce.

For 29-year-old investment strategist Lyn Alden, that meant taking control of what she works on each Monday. "I save one of the freshest, most interesting tasks…for Monday morning," she says. "That way, when I begin the week, I get to start right away with something fun rather than starting the week with mundane activities."

If you can't pinpoint the problem and create a solution on your own, don't be afraid to turn to a career coach, Jacinto says. "Invest in getting to the root of your issue," she advises. "Life is too short to stay in a job that makes you unhappy all the time."

2. Use Sundays to plan your week.

Sundays are actually your Monday Blues-beating secret weapon. Why? "Mondays can feel overwhelming because we are figuring out how to manage and cram in all of your work for the week," Jacinto explains. But if you make a to-do list on Sunday, you can hit the ground running. Planning ahead also gives you a chance show off while others may still be getting settled, Pierce points out. And who doesn't feel better when they're impressing his or her boss?

You can stick to a straight to-do list like 28-year-old publicist Charisse Curtis, who says writing down what she has to do and attend to during the week is almost as satisfying as scratching each item off. Or take it a step further, also like Curtis, and draft all your emails that need to be sent Monday morning on Sunday night. "Once you wake up, you can press send and you won’t feel as crazy," she says.

Rather than write out a to-do list, online public relations specialist Sarah Walsh, 24, takes time on Sunday night to write down how she wants her week to look, in story form. "I write in the third person about what I will do during the work week, acting as an omniscient narrator," she describes. "And to really drive my Monday vision home, as I drift off to sleep, I’ll imagine myself living through the Monday I described in my journal, falling asleep feeling confident that I have tomorrow under control."

One more thing you can plan on Sunday for Monday? Your meals. "The number-one way I beat the Monday Blues is by spending some time preparing my week's food," says 34-year-old health coach Michelle Gindi. "I've realized over time that if my food was taken care of, I could work way more efficiently and with less stress when Monday rolls around—plus, [I have] no sad desk lunches ever."

3. Get plenty of rest.

Fact: "A lack of sleep can trigger anxiety and cause you to start your day with a [bad] attitude," warns Pierce. To start your Monday off right, go to bed early enough Sunday night to log a solid eight hours of sleep—or however long your body really needs. You know the right number for you.

But it's not just when you nod off that matters. How you get up can make you feel rested and ready to take on the day—or make you want to burrow back under the covers. When 35-year-old psychiatrist Dion Metzger goes to bed on Monday nights, she sets her alarm 30 minutes earlier than she does the rest of the week. "It helps the mind-set of me being ahead of the curve for the Monday grind, she explains. "If I snooze and start my Monday morning with a late start, I will drag throughout the day and never feel like I'm on top of it."

Be There in Five owner Kate Kennedy, 29, also has a special routine. "I have one of those wake-up lamps that…gradually turns on to simulate the sun rising and wakes you with subtle light and morning-related nature noises," she says. On Monday mornings, "using that to gradually wake up instead of my jarring iPhone siren has been a game changer, because my body doesn't wake up in panic mode," she says.

4. Start it right.

Make it a routine to start your mornings off right. "Set up something that helps you look forward to starting the day," says Jacinto, who herself has a Monday routine of strolling through Central Park with her husband on her way to the office. "It gets me energized to talk about what I have planned, and it relaxes me," she explains.

However you start your day is up to you. For Pambakian, that boils down to treating herself to her favorite coffee: an almond milk latte from Blue Bottle Coffee. She gets it no matter how busy her morning might be. "Waking up Monday morning knowing that I’m going to have my favorite cup of coffee is what really gets me looking forward to getting out of bed and starting my day," Pambakian confesses.

Your get-moving specialty doesn't even need to take you out of your house. Jenay Zahler, a 26-year-old yoga instructor, starts her Mondays with a mantra, something like, "I understand my goals and will attack them with full force," she says. Entrepreneur Annaliese Allen, 37, searches Instagram for inspiring quotes. Then, "I take a picture of it and save it as my phone wallpaper for the day so the quote remains front of mind."

5. Dress to win.

You have to dress for success—especially on Mondays. "Don’t allow your attitude to determine your appearance," warns Pierce. "Instead, do the opposite: Dress the way you want to feel. When you look good, you feel good and you perform well." Pick out your snazziest shoes, your brightest bling, or your favorite fight-the-frumps blazer, and be ready to kick buns when you come out of your closet.

Of course, you can deck out more than your personal appearance—you can dress up your desk, too, like 22-year-old communications coordinator Lexi Argyle. She fills her work space with "photos, flowers, and Silence of the Lambs bobble heads—yes, I have them on my desk," she describes. And even more so than decorating her desk, Argyle fights clutter on Friday so she can feel refreshed when she walks into work on Monday. "Coming in Monday with a clean slate, a fresh desk, and surrounded by some of my favorite things helps me get my week off to a better start," she says.