Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Monday Blues and Shopping

Come Monday and you get the blues. I look for excuses of not going to work on almost all Mondays, and more often than not, end up working from home. Actually it starts sprouting up Sunday afternoon, latest by the evening. Add some greys from the skies on Monday morning, and you have a dirty, gloomy concoction of blue-grey tinges that keeps you troubled throughout the day. And a bad start to the week tends to create a bad taste.

With my contrarian style of working and the flexibility at work I generally sit with the code late nights on weekdays and afternoons on weekends, becoming the object of suspicion of colleagues with my short hours at work (Hope my manager doesn't read this...), getting up as late on a weekday as on the weekends, there is no reason I should get depression-filled Monday mornings. But I still get them. Monday is like getting up for the week. A parallel can be drawn between nights and weekends, between dawns and Mondays, between being night owls and flexi-workers.

So anyway, come Monday and you get the blues. There are several remedies to it, the one I usually follow is going out on Sunday evenings also. Well, the popular idea of staying indoors Sundays helps me because I find lesser traffic on roads and lesser congestions at restaurants and theatres. And going out on Sunday evenings leaves lesser time to worry about the next morning.

Another cure I discovered this Monday, though it was practised by female colleagues from my first job and I never realised it, was to go out shopping on weekends and wear the loot to work on Monday. Okay that can be a girly thing to do but I really felt lesser impact this and the previous Monday. I could beat the blues by donning new pairs of denim blues (and new shirts too) to office, and receiving compliments. However, this leaves me in a lurch for the next 50 weeks; two pairs of jeans is almost the upper limit I buy in year.

Going out for lunch on Mondays can be of help too. This is inspired by another friend; she doesn't eat out on the weekends, but makes sure she doesn't have dinner cooked at home on Mondays. For me, good food anyway serves as an anti-depressant at all times. And the best part is that unlike clothes, I do not have a quota on eating out.

Talking of melancholy and food, I am already feeling sad about not being able to finish this piece on Monday, and about getting up five hours later and going to work. Let me visit the kitchen and eat something before I retire. By then, you let me know how do you deal with your Monday blues.

[Photo courtesy: Vicky Walsh]


22 comments:

Unknown said...

hmm.. quit your job :)

Unknown said...

Kani:

Sure thing dude. Offer me a partnership in your company itasveer so that it fetches me paychecks equivalent to that from my present employer, and expect the same work from me.

Unknown said...

are fir bore ho jaega. let me restate - quit your job and be a bum :D

Indigo said...

Mondays I get up early, work out, reach office early, work hard the whole day, cook exquisite dishes for dinner, and try to follow all that one 'ought' to. In short, I try to be as busy as possible to not allow depression near me.

Anonymous said...

hey i liked ur article....i really believe in the shoping thing...it really works..i have tried subconsciously and also it makes me feel great on weekends :D ... u know getting new clothes :)

Anonymous said...

Same here. I get monday blues frm sunday afternoon

Unknown said...

Kani:

I knew what did you imply :) However, all that about my work and style of working meant all days feel like weekends for me, but I still get the blues. If I be a bum, I'll still feel all days like weekends, and still have Monday blues. I guess it has also to do with everyone else resuming work. And the onset of saas-bahu soaps on Mondays that Mom watches and I cannot avoid if I work from home...

Unknown said...

Indigo:

That's an interesting way. ज़हर ज़हर को काटता है types...I don't think I can ever do that...but yes, I can try cooking next time on Mondays..cooking always gives me the thrills.

Unknown said...

Rashmi:

Yes, girls enjoy shopping, and they can practically shop every weekend. As I said in the post too, my quote is done for a year now :) So this wouldn't work for me any more.

Unknown said...

Nidhi:

Monday blues since Sunday. Sigh!

I wonder if that feeling can be called Sunday blues, or Sunday light-blues, if you will.

~vagabond~ said...

I could go shopping on Sunday, have a blast Sunday evening and wear new clothes to work on Monday and eat away the Monday blues. But then what happens on Tuesday? When Mondays are too much fun, there is such a thing too as Tuesday blues, you know.

PS. For everyone who hates their measly job...it's friday! yay!

Unknown said...

Nice research on so called 'Monday Blues' :), what i feel is person get used to homely and fun filled free relaxed weekend, the hang over of such pleasure, mind feels reluctant to give up and wants to be in that mood for some more time unless we get bore staying in home (working from home) on Monday or make up our mind its enough staying in home lets have some change...even you can flash new cloths if you did really buy on weekend :) and kick start new week :)

Unknown said...

Vagabond:

Well, Tuesdays it sort of sinks in. That you gotta work and there is no respite. Also, you get a bit used to working, from Monday. Actually, as I mentioned in my post also, it is not about hating my job, I anyway work on weekends and in nights, but Mondays have that awful feeling attached with them.

Unknown said...

Vimmi:

Yeah you are right, it is the hangover of 'pleasure' on the weekend that makes Mondays awful.

Anonymous said...

A suggestion: work on sat and sunday... you won't be depressed on mondays ... :D...not from home...from office...

Unknown said...

Dheeru:

:) Thanks. But I always work on the weekends too. Only that I work from home. In fact, I like it being lazy and working from me bed. :) And as I said, my blues are not related to work.

Anonymous said...

hey ashes, i always felt thrilled if i had something new to show to colleagues from a weekend shopping. and if i look back, these were the mondays when i woke up on time, without forcing myself to work. but i never felt there was any correlation between the two things - weekend shopping and monday blues. thanks to u that i hav spotted it now.

Unknown said...

Chronicleofmylife:

Haha. Glad that you were able to find a correlation. I too discovered it just by chance, since I wore new clothes to work on two subsequent Mondays.

उन्मुक्त said...

यह तो हमें भी होता है।

Unknown said...

उन्मुक्त जी:

मतलब मंडे ब्लूज़ आपको भी होते हैं? तो आप क्या करते हैं उन्हें ठीक करने के लिए?

Amiya Shrivastava said...

Yeah a serious problem! Mondays are never good...and nice way of tackling it!

Normally, on Monday I fight my hangovers and bitch a lot about my boss..that's how I dissipate my negative energy....

Then I sleep the whole day with my eyes open!

Unknown said...

Amiya:

For me, fighting hangovers adds to the blues :P Similarly, sleeping with eyes open is a symptom of Monday Blues, and not a cure.

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