There’s a reason why we call Monday’s ‘blue Monday’… If you dread waking up on a Monday morning after a fun weekend off spent with your friends and family, or catching up on your favourite tv series, then you’re definitely not the only one.
Monday is unanimously the least favourite day of the week, and there’s a pretty strong reason for that. After a lovely weekend away from the office, finding the motivation to drag yourself out of bed and crack on with the week ahead can be a bit of a tall order. This can be particularly tough if you know you’ve got a super busy week ahead, a big exam, or an important meeting with your boss stressing you out. It’s so easy to roll over and hit snooze to put off the inevitable for as long as possible. But try as you might, you can’t press pause forever, and sooner or later you’ve got to get yourself up and crack on anyway, so why drag it out and make it even harder for yourself?
Knowing what lies ahead can really dampen the mood and kill our buzz after a fabulous weekend but finding ways to motivate yourself and actually look forward to your Monday mornings (shocking, we know) can make all the difference to the kind of week you have. Setting yourself up for a successful and productive week all starts the night before and the morning of, so here are Morale’s top tips for the ultimate Monday morning motivation.
What is motivation?
In order to know how to create it, let’s first chat about what motivation actually is. Motivation typically defines why a person does something, it’s the driving force behind action.
There are actually two different types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation is derived entirely from within, and not due to any anticipated reward, deadline or pressure. It’s simply doing something because you enjoy it or it’s the right thing to do.
Extrinsic motivation is effectively any reason to do something that is *not* purely for the enjoyment or love of it. The driving factor here is the promise of a reward like a promotion or because you don’t want to get in trouble for missing a deadline.
Neither one of these types of motivation are wrong, so being motivated to get to work on a Monday morning because your goal is to get promoted doesn’t make you a bad person at all. At the end of the day, you’re still getting yourself up and off to work and doing your best to achieve what you want, so who’s complaining?
But what happens when there are many external rewards driving your Monday morning motivation? The week can start to look like a chore, and you might find yourself dragging your heels as Monday morning gets closer. Learning how to channel your intrinsic motivation can help you to find more reasons to get motivated and make Monday’s more seamless.
Reconnect with your why
Take a moment to reflect and remind yourself why you do what you do every day. Aside from a paycheck at the end of the month, there was a reason you chose this profession over countless other options, so think back to why you’re doing this. Even if this isn’t your desired destination, remember where you want to be and that this is an integral part of achieving that dream. Redefining your purpose can give you a momentum boost to get stop hitting snooze and power on through the day.
Journaling or positivity planning can be a super helpful tool to start reconnecting with your why again. By writing down all of your goals and aspirations, and what you’re grateful for, along with some positive affirmations, you can start to realign your motivators and remind yourself why you’re doing what you do.
Reset your routine
Doing the same things week in and week out can start to get a bit stale after a while, which is when we tend to start losing motivation. Finding small ways to revamp your routine can help put the excitement back into your working week and make it feel less like the same old thing again (yawn).
Try rearranging your furniture or setting up to work in a new location, perhaps even outside if the weather allows it. If not, working by a window is the next best alternative and a good way to make sure you’re getting your daily dosage of sunlight to help those happy hormones flow.
Top tips for Monday motivation
Ok, so now we know a little bit more about motivation, and how to realign your motivation from extrinsic to intrinsic, here are Morale’s favourite Monday morning motivation tips and tricks for you to try out next week…
- Go to bed earlier
One of the best ways to wake up more motivated and proactive to kick start the week ahead is to make sure you’re well-rested from the night before. Getting a healthy amount of good REM sleep to heal your brain and reset is vital to waking up with enough energy to tackle Monday morning. Limit your screen time before you go to bed, and follow a healthy sleep routine to ensure you’re getting a really good night’s rest. If you aren’t sure how to get into a sleep routine, then we’ve got you covered. Just head here and find out how you can have the best night’s sleep ever.
- Write down your goals
Writing down and visualising what you want to achieve this week will help to boost your sense of motivation and give you a kick to start getting on with it. Imagine how great you’ll feel when you look back at the list at the end of the day or week and see everything checked off and completed.
However, try not to over-face yourself with a hefty list that you know you can’t get through. This will only add to your stress levels and make you feel like procrastinating getting started. Keep it to a manageable amount and vary some smaller, easily accomplishable tasks with some larger, more challenging ones too. That way you won’t feel disappointed if you don’t make it through everything and can bank on that rush of feel-good hormones when you smash your to-do list.
- Have something to look forward to in the morning
Instead of going to bed dreading the moment your alarm clock goes off, set yourself a few little treats to have in the morning so you actually go to bed looking forward to the next day. Whether that’s your favourite breakfast, making time for a bit of morning meditation, or treating yourself to a coffee on the go before you head to work, by giving yourself something to look forward to you’ll be more motivated to get yourself up and start the day. And by feeling good in the morning, your mood will carry throughout the rest of the day, and you’ll probably find yourself crushing your workload without even realising it.
- Schedule in breaks
Looking at the jam-packed day ahead can really suck the motivation straight out of you so make sure you’re prioritising some breaks in there too. Making time for even just a 10-minute cup of tea can break the day up into more manageable chunks and make it feel less overwhelming. Taking a quick break to stretch your legs away or chat to a co-worker is a fantastic way to quickly refresh your mind and focus, it might even give you a bit of space to come up with a new killer idea to wow your colleagues!
- Use some Monday motivation quotes
They may seem cheesy, but motivational quotes, much like affirmations, are actually a scientifically proven way to boost your motivation and keep your mentality set to positive. In fact, motivational quotes give us the same feeling of accomplishment as actually doing something, so they’re a great tactic to use when you want to get yourself in the mood to smash out your Monday. Here are a few of our fave Monday motivational quotes for you to try next Monday:
- “This is your Monday morning reminder that you can handle whatever this week throws at you.”
- “Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn
- “Hey, I know it’s Monday. But it’s also a new day and a new week. And in that lies a new opportunity for something special to happen.” – Michael Ely
- “Every morning you have two choices: continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them”
- “The secret of getting ahead, is getting started.”
Morale is THE app that can help you find your groove every Monday morning! Boost your mental health by sending and receiving daily affirmations to those in your closest network. Affirmations are the golden ticket to improving your mindset and finding that Monday morning motivation. Just download the app from Google Play or Apple’s App Store, and watch the Monday blues become a thing of the past.
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We’re always on the lookout for some feedback so if you’ve got something you want to tell us, send us an email to contact@moraleapp.co.
