Ten Ways to Survive Mondays

There's hope for getting your work week off to a good start with these tips.

Try one or more of these great ways to survive a Monday:

1. Look at how you are spending your weekend. If you're doing too many chores or work on your house, garden, pool, boat, laundry, cleaning, etc., and are exhausted by Sunday night, you need to make more time to relax over the weekend so that you can more easily face the start of another work week.

2. Try to complete your work projects on Friday. I know, I know, all you want to do on a Friday in the summer is get the heck out of the office. But if you can finish up your projects, you won't face impending doom when you wake up on Monday morning. Who wants to start their work week with that kind of stress hanging over you?

3. Give yourself extra time to get ready on Monday morning. Don't keep hitting the snooze on your alarm and end up running late. Rushing to work, knowing that you'll never make it in time, only adds to the stress of your Monday.

4. Don't over schedule Mondays. Avoid setting deadlines for things that have to be completed by the end of the day on Monday. See if you can balance your work week so that there isn't too much to have to finish by Monday at 5 pm.

5. Don't make Monday your errand day. Many of us want to bang out our week's errands at the start of the week. But if you schedule your errands to start on Tuesday, then when you wake up Monday morning, you can more easily bribe yourself out of bed by knowing you can come right home after work and relax.

6. Plan a lunch or dinner with a friend. It's much easier to wake up on a Monday morning if you have something to look forward to during your lunch break or after work. Knowing that you'll see a friend could be just what it takes to get you out of bed Monday.

7. Never skip breakfast on Monday morning. You need all the energy you can get. So plan for a protein, piece of fruit, and some hot or cold cereal to start your day so that you don't find your blood sugar dipping and causing you to have to drag yourself around the office by 11 am.

8. Don't stay out late on Sunday night. Use Friday and Saturday nights for that. Save Sunday evenings for some down time or to plan your meals and wardrobe for the week so that you go to sleep knowing you won't start your work week with a sleep deficit.

9. Get in a workout or two on the weekends. Keep yourself in good shape. The healthier you are, the easier it is to get out of bed in the morning without the guilt of having sabotaged yourself over the weekend.

10. Avoid fatty foods at night. According to research, it is very bad for your heart to go to sleep having eaten fattening foods. It also makes your workday tougher if your eating habits are causing you to risk your heart health.