7
Plan for fun.
An easy way to turn Mondays
around is to make them the
day you commit to fun plans
for later in the week. Sched-
ule a night out with friends,
a farmers’ market meet-up,
or even a binge-watch of your
favorite show. Regardless of
the activity, just thinking
about the good times in store
for you later in the week will
be an instant pick-me-up,
says Ettus. “Half the enjoy-
ment of any activity is antici-
pating it, which is why it’s
important to have things on
your calendar you can look
forward to,” she says.
8
Do a random act
of kindness.
Put positive energy into the
world and you’ll get it back,
research confirms: Performing
acts of kindness for seven
days boosted happiness and
well-being, found a 2018
study in the Journal of Social
Psychology. But doing even
one kind thing can make
you feel great. “Acts of
altruism and prosocial behav-
ior are linked to reward-
processing areas of the brain,”
says study coauthor Lee Row-
land, PhD, a chartered psy-
chologist and research affiliate
at the University of Oxford.
As you start your day, look
for ways to perform a random
act of kindness, whether for
a coworker, your neighbor,
or a stranger. Bring coffee
to a colleague, wheel your
neighbor’s recycling bin back
in from the curb, text a friend
you haven’t talked to in a
while to let her know you
miss her, or make a small
donation to an animal shelter
or environmental cause.
It’s a pretty nice day, eh?
Build something
pleasant into
your morning
schedule and you’ll
likely feel a little
more positivity
when the Monday
alarm buzzes.
6
Create a morning ritual.
“Our brains love routine, and
the less work your brain has
to do, the happier it will be,”
says Colleen D. Cira, PsyD,
founder and executive direc-
tor of the Cira Center for
Behavioral Health in Chicago.
“Routines are also a great way
to conserve energy for more
complicated parts of the day
and may give you some alone
time.” Even better? You have
more control over your atti-
tude for the day, she adds. Tap
into that extra-skip-in-your-
step feeling by adopting a
morning ritual—an activity or
habit (preferably a healthy
one) that puts you in a good
mood and that you look for-
ward to. For instance, you
might brew a really good cup
of tea, go to your favorite
exercise class, green your
commute by biking to work,
or meditate. With something
pleasant built into your morn-
ing schedule, you’ll likely
feel a little less dread and a
little more positivity when
the Monday alarm buzzes.
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