Boost Your Motivation
Author: Montana McLaughlin-Tom
How to ditch those Monday Blues
Let’s face it, Monday mornings are tough, especially when it comes to being productive and getting everything you wanted done – including your workout. It could be a beautiful morning: the sun is shining, you didn’t hit the snooze button, and you even got out of bed; yet your body
and mind are still unwilling to cooperate. What’s worse is that so many of us shrug those Monday’s off and go “well, tomorrow will be better”. And while that is sometimes true – I know that for me, about 7/10 times, if I take Monday off the rest of the week is a downhill spiral in my productivity and workout regime. Please note – this may NOT be you. You may be fine to miss a Monday – everyone is different. Today would be a prime example: I got up on time, but my body’s willingness to do my 30 minute HIIT routine was just not there, and suddenly the routine that normally takes me about 35 minutes (including cool-down) managed to take 45. While I was proud of myself for finishing the workout – there was definitely a tiny, minuscule amount of frustration at myself for letting Monday get to me.
In the past, this would be when I’d go to handy dandy Pinterest to find inspiring phone wallpapers and songs in the hopes that SOMETHING would hit me enough to get me up on those Monday mornings (or just those mornings). Again, for some people this method might work. Sadly, for me, I’ve come to realize that while it’s nice to FEEL like I’ve done something to
help my workout routines, phone backgrounds don’t cut it. So many people have “tips” on how to get over Monday morning blues: music, being happy, doing yoga instead of a workout, etc. And while many of them work – none of them were a sure-fire way for me to constantly beat the Monday morning blues when they hit. These tips that I’m about to give you may not work for
you as well – we all have to go on our own journey to figure out what works for us or not. However, if you’ve hit a wall it never hurts to try something new!
- Shorten your daily list.
This sounds almost defeatist – but it’s true. Sometimes, when I do my weekly prep on Sunday (my rest day normally) I am way TOO ambitious on what I’ll get done the next day. Think about it – you’re making a weekly to do list on a day where you’ve probably done nothing, or at the very least, less than what you do on a normal day. I still encourage doing a weekly list on
Sunday, but perhaps make Monday’s a gradual re-introduction back into the weekly routine. If you take a 5 item list down to 3 (and making working out one of them) it becomes just THAT much easier to go “OK, I can do this workout!”.
- Be OK if you change up your routine
Some Mondays I am just NOT up to doing my weight routine. Some Mondays I can only mentally do cardio and yoga. And you know what makes those Mondays fine? The mental acknowledgement that switching it up to meet my mental self is OKAY. Being fit is a journey. Sometimes you’ve gotta switch your routine to match your mental mind of the day. Would you
rather get a workout in, or not?
- Give yourself more time
For awhile, I had a 2 hour commute to work, and my day at the office began at 7:30 – which meant that I was getting up anywhere from 4:30 to get in my workout before going into work. It was not a pleasant journey let me tell ya – but I did it. So, how did I do it on those Mondays? I woke up earlier. It sounds contradictory – but it’s true. Some mornings I just knew I’d be slower, so I’d either wake up earlier (aka not hit the snooze button), or be OK to go into (and leave) work later. On those days where we don’t want to do anything pushing through a HIIT/weight workout in the least amount of time possible is not a good way to handle your mental self.
- Treat yourself!
Now I’m not saying treat yourself to an Eggs Benedict, or to like – 5 chocolate bars. But perhaps this is the morning where you let yourself have that ONE piece of chocolate, that ONE coffee from the coffee shop, or that ONE whatever it is. ONE treat will not ruin your day, your fitness, or your exercise regime. Plus, it’ll be a little incentive for the workout.
PLEASE NOTE that I am NOT saying to treat yourself each time you workout. This article is purely for the days where you simply cannot do anything. I’m talking about you’re staring at the wall and not realizing it’s been half an hour kind of days.
- Have a Buddy!
So accountability buddies when it comes to working out and fitness is nothing new. However, we often lose touch, lose track, or just stop texting these types of friends once that marathon, that challenge, that “whatever” is over. But have you tried making it for Monday mornings? If you know someone whose up at the same time as you – and you both want to workout on Monday mornings – perhaps make it an encouragement texting scenario. Text each other to see if you’re up, if you’re working out, or when your workout is done!
- Challenge Each Other!
If you’re the competitive type you can totally make number 5 into a challenge.
Challenge:
• Pick a number of Mondays (at least 4 to make it into a habit)
• Pick a prize (i.e. coffee or dinner – make it something you both could afford EASILY)
• Whoever does the most Mondays without breaking (aside from health reasons) wins!
Author bio: My name is Montana, And just like so many of you – I am also constantly searching for a new way to lose weight, get fit, or just be happier with my body. I strive to make choices that are considered ‘lifestyle changes’, and after having some amazing success (and some failures – let’s be real and authentic here), I decided to share some ideas with you!
