Workable solutions for managing Monday blues

September 28, 2015

Stress levels are at their highest on Monday mornings — also the peak time for strokes, heart attacks and heart-rhythm problems. Heart attacks are roughly 20 per cent more common on Mondays than on other days, among retired people as well as the employed.

Workable solutions for managing Monday blues

1. Improve your commute

  • Just getting ready for work on Monday can cause some people's blood pressure to rise.
  • The prospect of the week ahead is not the only cause: for some, it's the after-effects of a weekend of heavy drinking, which can cause dangerously abnormal heart rhythms and raise blood pressure.
  • For others, it's the pressure of the daily commute.
  • To improve your commute, travel later or earlier one morning a week if you can to avoid traffic jams. If you can, try biking or walking to work it can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

2. Work smarter, not harder

Here are some simple but useful techniques to help you to stay on top of your workload:

  • Ask to work flex-time so you can commute outside peak hours. (As long as you get the work done, many employers are sympathetic).
  • Cycle or walk part of the way to work. You'll burn up stress hormones and get some exercise.
  • Make a to-do list for the day.
  • Set realistic goals. Make them clear and achievable.
  • Manage your time. Don't try to cram too much into your schedule, and avoid taking on anything else until you've completed the task at hand.
  • Break big tasks into small steps.
  • Settle for less than perfect. Work at 90 per cent of your capacity rather than 110 per cent — and delegate.
  • Regulate the time you spend dealing with emails. You could set up an automatic e-mail response that reads "I answer emails at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. If you need a quick reply, please call me."
  • Let your phone switch over to voice mail while you're finishing a task.
  • If you spend most of your time sitting at work, do some exercises at your desk to relieve the strain.
  • Always stop work during your lunch hour and try to get a change of scenery. Try not to discuss work during the break.
  • Learn some rapid stress-relief techniques to use at times of tension. Simply closing your eyes for a few moments and clearing your mind can re-energize you.
  • Leave work on time.
  • Don't take work home.
  • Don't check your work e-mail when you're at home or on vacation.

3. Improve email mania

  • Many people underestimate the extent to which email has ratcheted up our levels of stress.
  • The average manager spends four hours every day dealing with the onslaught of email.
  • One in three of us admits to feeling stressed by the sheer number of emails we receive, according to a study at the universities of Glasgow and the West of Scotland, and some people check their inboxes up to 40 times an hour.
  • Each message requires you to make multiple small judgments that tax your neural networks.
  • And stopping what you're doing to check the contents of a new email is distracting, so you lose your train of thought, your productivity plummets and you get tired.
  • One study showed that workers distracted by emails had a 10-point fall in tested IQ — double what it would drop if they had smoked marijuana.
  • There are ways to deal with email excess, but you have to stick to them. First, turn off the alert that tells you a message has arrived. Check your email only at set intervals, and don't interrupt another task to reply unless it's truly urgent.
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