How to deal with Monday mornings

You've had a relaxing weekend and it's with a sense of gloom that you thump the alarm clock into silence. JULIE MIDDLETON reports on ways to minimise Mondayitis.

1. Tidy your desk on Friday night. The sight of an untidy desk on Monday morning is bound to make your heart plummet.

2. Make a to-do list on Friday night that will get you going first thing Monday. You'll start the day with a sense of purpose, says University of Waikato psychologist Professor Michael O'Driscoll.

"One of the things I do is set myself a task that I'll find interesting, a bit challenging, but not too demanding," he says. "Something I'll look forward to."

Maybe that will be colleagues or clients you really enjoy seeing, or things you really like doing. And writing a list on Fridays may well stop you doing one mentally on Sunday, when you'd rather not be thinking work.

3. If you enjoy flexible hours and know you aren't a morning person, start and finish later, suggests Victoria University industrial psychologist Dr Paula Brough.

4. Treat yourself. Buy some flowers on the way to work on Monday morning - nothing fancy required. Keep a vase on your desk.

5. Turn in early on Sunday night. Generally, it helps to stick to your usual wake-up times in the weekend. If you get up early and tire early afternoon, have a nap.

6. Move that body! You've gone from an active weekend (possibly) to a chair behind a desk. Walk around the building, or better still, around the block.

How about booking a walk at afternoon tea time with a colleague? Take the stairs, not the lift.

7. Take phone calls standing up. Think about getting off the bus or train or out of your car some distance from the office.

8. Make the most of commuting. Read, meditate, doze, eavesdrop, listen to favourite music on your Walkman.

9. Accept that you get Mondayitis, says O'Driscoll, but make sure you manage that feeling.

"You're not going to get rid of the feeling, but you can supersede it."