Is your Monday-itis a sign of something serious?

Monday.

It’s just one day in a whole week. But I know from my own experience that Monday isn’t always our favourite day.

I would feel that niggling feeling of dread seeping into my mind on a Sunday and by Monday I was in full-blown, multiple snooze alarm, don’t want to move mode.

My weekend was like being at the top of a rollercoaster with Monday being the bottom of the curve only to see my mood swing slowly over the week back to Friday night heights. And then repeat. Definitely a rollercoaster.  

So when I read some statistics on what the majority of us think of Mondays, I wasn’t shocked. But I did start to think that this Monday thing may be more than just a case of ‘I’ve got to get out of bed’, but a sign of a serious career malfunction and not to be ignored.

I know for myself it certainly was the prompt for my review of my career.

So here are some of those Monday stats that made me sit up and listen:

Most of us don’t crack a smile until 11.16am.

Don’t believe me? Well Marmite did a study and found that we really don’t smile, even a little smile, until mid morning. That’s a long time to be miserable – or at least not happy enough to smile about anything.

Over 50% of employees are late for work.

Not only do we not want to smile but we drag ourselves to work just as slowly as we spread a little joy.

Most people moan about Monday (when they do make it in to work) for about 12 minutes.

12 whole, long minutes. That doesn’t sound long but try this – video yourself talking non-stop for 12 minutes and then play it back to yourself. Bet you are looking at the little time bar at about 2 minutes max. So now you can see how 12 minutes is a long time to moan.

People are most likely to suffer from Monday-itis between the ages of 45 and 54.

Personally I think that is because by then, for so many, if you are in the wrong career or not able to make it the career you want, you are truly ground down.

Workers manage only three and a half hours of productive work.

Yep only three and a half. Hardly worth going in really isn’t it? And most people think Fridays are the worst day for work.

And although all of the above was pretty sad, the last few were what made me aware of the true impact of not feeling like going to the job you do, or feel happy in yourself when Monday rolls around:

Monday is the most likely day to commit suicide according to the Office for National Statistics…

And finally, according to the British Medical Journal, it’s also the most likely day to have a heart attack.

So, while you may think ‘Well everyone feels this way’, you may just want to rethink the importance of how YOU and your employees feel on a Monday.

If you are waking up with dread, if you are plodding to work, if you are sitting there counting the minutes until home time or if you are dreaming every day of retirement, then you should consider doing a health check on your career and ask yourself a few hard questions before you go from career wobble to a full blown case of career crisis.

And if your employees are not responding with interest, if you have high turn over, if lateness is a real Monday issue, if the ‘My dog ate my homework’ type excuse seems to be a Monday regular – then you need to take action before you lose the best through resignation, or just lose their input from mentally ‘checking out’.

How we have got to this point where poor Monday is so maligned in my opinion is a mix of us as individuals and our employers, who have a lot more input into this situation than most of them think.

We, as employees, often get into a career and find ourselves stuck: we’ve invested so much time in building it up that to admit it’s no longer ‘us’ is pretty hard to do. Instead we are almost waiting for some external push – someone else, or something else, to make the decision for us.

There is this belief that once on a path, there is no turning around, no change in direction, no new options. Especially as you get older (I can say that at my age ;)) and even more so when you gain more and more responsibilities.

And it’s not helped by companies. As a company you offer promotions as solutions to this lack of passion and interest. You offer management roles as the means to feel that ‘their’ (the employees’) opinions matter. But most don’t then back it up with the type of personal development investment needed to make the role really work for the person involved. Most see an increase in salary as the solution.

And is this the solution? Well, I won’t say no. It does help but only for a bit. It’s a case of being in a new job that feels shiny and fresh until we discover that it’s pretty much the same if there aren’t any development opportunities, we just get paid more to do more, and worse, if there is promotion without the additional support to gain leadership – not management – skills, then there is the added problem of ‘How do I get the best out of my new staff??’ among many other issues most managers face when shoved up the career ladder.

Regardless, money on it’s own without challenge, interest, passion, spark – is just money. It doesn’t equal a career, which is what you need to get you out of bed and keep the mind active and people happy.

So what to do?

Recognise that the way we feel on a Monday is not just the way it is. It shouldn’t be and it can truly be a symptom of a bigger problem – for you individually, for your team and within the company itself.  

Recognise the need to take responsibility for your role in making this happen, and making the changes needed to bring back motivation into Monday – and therefore every other day of the week. We can make the choice to reignite our career – but it takes time and investment. It doesn’t happen by wishing.  

And as a company there is an even greater responsibility.

A company has the power to either create a positive or a negative Monday for those that come in every week to contribute so much to its success. After all without great people you can’t have a great company. So real understanding of the massive gain from investment in and time for development of an employee’s mindset as well as their skillset, and the commitment to make it happen, will reduce your Monday lag, increase retention of your future instigators of success and encourage the best and the rising stars to want to join the company – not run away from it.

I’m not saying everyone feels like this on a Monday, every company has these issues or that every Monday should be ‘funday’. But Monday certainly shouldn’t be the day of doom that drags down the rest of the week and a symptom of a greater problem.  

So I ask: What was your Monday like?