You CAN Love Your Mondays
It’s in your hands (and it’s not as hard as you think)
When your alarm beeped you awake this morning,
did you grumble expletives into your pillow—just like you do at the start of
every workweek? Wake up and smell the coffee, because science is about to
debunk everything you thought you knew about Mondays.
Researchers from Stony Brook University
and Gallup Organization interviewed 340,000 Americans about their mood
throughout the week and published their results in the Journal of
Positive Psychology. Here’s what they found: Our moods significantly
improve on Fridays and get even better on Saturdays and Sundays (no surprise
there!). We get less happy when Monday arrives, but our moods stay
consistent all week.
You read that right: Mood-wise, Monday
feels just the same as Thursday to most Americans.
So after you bury the “case of the
Mondays” excuse from your repertoire, cheer up. The good news is that you, not
a day of the week, are in control of your happiness. Should you still need a
little pick-me-up after your weekend happiness high, try one of these
scientifically proven tricks:
- Pack a happy lunch. If
you want to change your mood, change your food. Walnuts and salmon are
packed with omega-3 fats, which ward off depression, according to a study
from the University of Pittsburgh. When given psychological tests, those
with high omega-3 levels performed up to 58% better than those with the
lowest levels.
- Plan your next trip. Who
says money can’t buy happiness? If you spend it on experiences, it can. A
study of 329 shoppers found that people who spend money on experiences,
like going to a concert or eating at a great restaurant, are happier than
those who buy jewelry, clothes, and other material goods.
- Flip a switch. Keep a bright lamp at
your desk to shine up your mood. In an experiment about depression,
participants turned on a bright light for an hour a day. Just three weeks
later, more than 50% reported a better mood and sleep. The light exposure
was as effective as antidepressants and lasted weeks after the study
ended.
