It’s just another manic Monday oh, oh ohhhhhh. Yeah, your right, even a song with a catchy, cheery hook can’t make Monday’s any better. It just boils down to this. You are either a Monday person or you aren’t. If you are, you are probably one of those lucky people that loves your job and wakes up every single day feeling grateful for life. If you aren’t, you probably wake up on a Monday and think you would probably prefer to stick lit matches in both nostrils rather than get up and start the day. If you fall into this category, here are some tips to have a better Monday.

Smile

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Until you try it, you really can’t appreciate how much just smiling can make you feel better. Now I’m not saying you need to go around, beaming a full on, cringe, tooth flashing smile 24/7 at everyone that you meet, because not only is it creepy but people might start to presume you put vodka on your muesli. All I’m saying is, when you pop to Sainsbury’s to get your lunch today, give Dawn on the check out a little grin and see how much it makes you feel better when you get one in return.

If you don’t, tell Dawn she’s a miserable fanny and demand a discount on your meal deal.

Have a mood boosting Breakfast

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I continuously ignore the advice ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’, and I don’t know why, because I do genuinely feel better if I eat breakfast, and I also tend to feel less like I want to eat 32 packets of crisps and a small dog by 4pm. Not only should you eat breakfast, but you should also think about WHAT you eat for breakfast. We live in a weird and wonderful little world of different mood boosting foods. Try a fortified cereal, which are rich in Vitamin B which is linked to good mental health. Milk and Eggs are also a great source of Vitamin D, which is another Vitamin that aids the fight for depression. So instead of grabbing a cup of coffee and a multi-vitamin each day, why not do some research and see what breakfast foods can benefit you?

Here’s a list from Greatist of some mood boosting foods.

Job Hunt

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Maybe your dislike for Monday’s goes a bit further. Are you stuck in a rut? Hate your job? Get job hunting and look for a new one. Adults spend most of their life at work, there’s nothing worth being unhappy. A few years ago, I left my VERY well paid recruitment job to go back into care because I simply wasn’t happy. Two years later, I’m a manager, and I’m still doing something I love. It’s now or never.

Do a good deed

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Doing a good deed for someone else can make you feel absolutely amazing. Clearly you don’t need to go about rescuing people from burning buildings, you can do something mega simple like making the whole office a tea or offering the clean the mingtastic microwave out that hasn’t been cleaned since you all made pancakes in it on pancake day. There are loads of ways you can help someone. Even if you volunteered for an hour an evening doing something to help people with existing skills you have.

Check out ‘do it for fun’ and see how you can help in your area. Make sure you are careful when and where you help out though. If you help someone with their shopping where I’m from in Basildon, they are likely to think you are trying to rob them and karate chop you.

Prepare in advance

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Can I be honest with you? I don’t mean to make you feel worse if you hate Mondays anyway, but we all pretty much know they are coming. I mean it’s no shocker is it guys? Monday has come after Sunday for the entire time you’ve been alive, it’s not going to change any time soon. Start thinking about Monday on Sunday afternoon, and get organised so you feel less overwhelmed.

Get enough sleep

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It goes without saying that if you stay up late on Sunday, trying to desperately avoid the fate that is Monday morning, you will pretty much just feel worse. Go to bed early and read a book, light some candles and kid yourself that it’s Thursday night.

Dress to kill

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This goes for women AND men. Come on, admit it, we all feel a bit better when we know we look amazing don’t we? Sort yourself out an outfit that makes you feel absolutely BOSS in advance for Monday morning and own it. Paint your nails, do your eyebrows (I don’t necessarily mean the men here, but some of you could definitely do with doing your eyebrows and there’s no shame in that lads), fake tan, and show up on Monday like you mean absolute business and WON’T have lost enthusiasm for life by 10.30am.

Look forward to something

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Have a holiday coming up? Spa day? Best friend getting married? No matter how much we love our lives, and our work, we still all have things to look forward to, and that’s great. Life isn’t all about work, kids and eyebrows you know guys. If you have something you are looking forward to, mark it off on your calendar or get a ‘countdown’ app on your phone.

Just don’t start gassing me about Christmas yet.