Good morning everyone and welcome back to the Breakroom! I hope you have all had a great week. On my end, I feel like I am starting to sense that people are very anxious to go into summer. Everyone is out the moment there is a little bit of sun and remotely warm, my dogs are shedding their coats all over the house, and I’m seeing plenty of out-of-towners in town with their giant vehicles taking up parking places. But what is a better way to countdown to summer than in office breakdowns, right? After today, we will officially hit summer in eight more breakdowns. Let us get this number going, and jump into everything that happened this week at the office.
Well, the biggest event really happened on Monday, first thing in the morning even. As you might recall, Michael has come up with a new idea on how to prevent those nasty cases of “the Mondays” by setting up videos for us to watch Monday morning. This particular Monday, we are picking up with Varsity Blues since the best cure for Monday Blues is Varsity Blues. Originally this idea started with us watching through the different training videos that Dunder Mifflin offered, followed by a medical video (thinking the ones they showed in school on our changing bodies). Since then it has been segments of movies each Monday, with the exception of an episode of Entourage that he had us watch six different times.
This topic certainly brings up the fact that many of us who work Monday through Friday jobs do get to feel that “case of the Mondays” when we come in after a nice weekend. Mind you, I feel many people might have their own version of a weekend depending on how their schedule works (my husband’s weekend would be Sunday and Monday) so many of us are familiar with this sensation. So reaching out to the experts, what can we do to help shake of those cobwebs that infest the work side of our brain?
Calm offers a full breakdown of the Monday Blues, including talking about the main symptoms which can include a lack of energy, anxiety, and just simple moodiness. So what causes us to go through these symptoms? There are a few reasons, certainly the biggest is simply going from a period of freedom and doing whatever we want back to our job where we have duties that are not necessarily fun, simply gets to us. It can certainly be a sign that you are unhappy with your job but for many people their job isn’t necessarily their life’s passion they’ve dreamt of doing their entire life, so it is understandable they’d rather being doing one of their hobbies. Additionally, it could have more to do with they actually did on the weekend. It is pretty easy to want to do so much over the weekend that sleep and rest becomes such a low priority, that you make up for it starting Monday when you need to go back to a routine. That last one is my biggest issue when I take days off for long weekends, I end up staying up too late because I don’t need to sleep right away and I pay for it later. So what does Calm suggest we do? Well one of them is exactly what Michael is trying to do and that is creating a ritual or tradition on Mondays. Just like we have a tradition of looking forward to the weekend, having a Monday routine assists in that transition back into the work week. Perhaps you do a weekly trip to your favorite coffee place for a special drink to start out the week or perhaps you schedule listening to the latest episode of your favorite podcast. Similarly, they recommend starting the week with a meditation or workout routine which can good to maintain your mood and energy levels. Rather than the start of the work week, you can focus on the days throughout it. You can take some time to focus on some self-care like a bubble bath or treat yourself to a special dessert. You can also focus setting up evening to do activities such as a movie night or perhaps you spend an evening on your favorite hobby like crocheting or blogging1.
Forbes also discussed the phenomenon of Monday Blues, and they want to call out the fact that these rough Monday’s are not necessarily about the fact that you are transitioning from weekend to work week. They talk about how it could be a serious indicator that one is unhappy with their current job, since if you love what you do then going to work Monday just means you get to continue to do what makes you happy. I do personally want to disagree with this statement a bit. First, it is certainly possible to love your career but it doesn’t change the fact that you would love to have a nice long weekend without having to think about work. Second, not everyone is in a situation where they can “do what they love” and it is best for them to stay in a job that they just simply do not like. Maybe there are just not great job opportunities around or perhaps their ideal career is not one they can focus on full-time. Careers in the arts can take a great deal of time to achieve the ability to do it without a “day job.” So for those of you out there working a job that you just don’t care about, there is nothing wrong with working for the weekend because your job is simply a means to focus on your hobbies and personal time. So remember, not everyone gets to work a job that they look forward to every Monday morning. I think we all remember how long Chandler Bing had to work in his boring job before he finally found something he could be excited about. And for some people, it really is about making money to focus on your what makes you happy outside of work. So what are some of Forbes’s tips for preparing for Monday? They do recommend remembering to get proper rest over the weekend, so try to refrain from that excessive sleeping in. I usually split the difference and sleep in one day while getting up at my usual time the other day. Another they mention which I liked was about positivity and how it can help to keep yourself in a positive attitude. I typically do this by either listening to my favorite podcast or playing with my puppies for a bit always cheers me up. Another is to make someone else happy; working in human resources there are those instances where I am able to help someone and actually feel good afterwards. I find that verbally saying “they were really nice” or “that was actually a good call” helps to cement the fact that I was able to walk away happy. Additionally, much like how Calm talks about setting up plans throughout the week it can be as simple as having a plan for after work and give you something to look forward to. Today, for instance, my husband and I decided to order from OMC Smokehouse (a local favorite here in Duluth) and the thought of their famous brisket and beef fat fries definitely put me in a good mood. more importantly, it helps act as a goal or reward for being able to get through your work day2. So while we might all have some serious Monday Blues, that doesn’t mean we can’t try to combat them with focusing on other aspects of our lives besides work.
Unfortunately, upper management is not always so keen about employees doing these sorts of activities while they are on the job and Jan Levinson is no exception. She had chose to swing by Monday morning for a visit and she went ballistic with Michael when she found out that this is what he has been doing Monday mornings with everyone. While I personally think it is one of his better ideas, Michael doesn’t always translate his reasoning very well so it came off as a poor idea. Interestingly enough, Stamford also has their own tool to mix up the day. Jim explained to me they all like to play Call of Duty in the office. Seems it started as a team building exercise but they now have designated times during the day as a motivational tool. Jan is aware that they do this and really supports the idea. This really makes me start to think it’s more the fact that Jan simply has a problem with Michael and is just looking for reasons to criticize him.
Well, as it turns out there was one other person who was looking for a reason to tear Michael down. Dwight suddenly had to disappear for an emergency dental procedure, he needed to get a crown put on. Michael didn’t think anything of this, but he would soon find out that his trusted Assistant (to the) Manager was planning a coup of his position. Dwight actually set up a meeting with Jan after she left the office to convince her that Michael was inept for his job and that Dwight held the key to rebuilding the branch. Now Dwight is a bit of a loose cannon and can be very odd, much like Michael, but he is potentially the only person who takes this company more seriously than Michael. Jan went right around and actually passed this information to Michael, so he actually chose to set up a trap to get Dwight to admit to us all of his treachery. Michael informed us all that Dwight was selected to replace him and that we needed to respect his loyalty (since that is all it takes to be manager) and he wanted for Dwight to break. Michael wasn’t able to last as long, however, and began to reduce Dwight to a crying mess in front of us all because of how he betrayed him. We definitely lost a bit of respect for him that day, for more reasons than one.
But Michael still chose to forgive him since he is such a great guy. That, and Dwight is to do his laundry for the next year and he decided to publicly shame him with a “Liar” sign he had to wear. What I do not get is why Jan was so quick to turn Dwight in rather than consider him for a higher role. It is no secret that Jan has problems with Michael, and was went off at him just that morning for being poor at his job. We’ve spent over a year trying to prevent downsizing and although Dwight is an odd duck (to say the least) he does take his job and the company very seriously. He is even the top salesman of the entire company, so you’d think Jan would want to use him to help save the branch. Certainly makes you wonder what is going through Jan’s mind when she is so hard on Scranton but is through the moon for the Stamford branch.
And that was the craziness that happened on Monday in how we went from an early morning movie to finding a traitor in our midst. I personally have never had an instance where I tried to replace my boss, but I have to say it takes a special type of person to try to do that to a boss you actually adore and look up to. On the brightside, we do have some new ideas for how to combat the Monday Blues. I like the idea of developing a Monday morning tradition so I will think on fun things that I can do. Perhaps doing a “doughnut Monday” where I have a nice pastry waiting for me as a breakfast treat. Do any you out there have your own methods of dealing with your case of the Mondays? Please comment below and let us all know!
Until next time, I hope you have a great weekend and I’ll be sure to see you around the Breakroom.
- (n.d.). 8 ways to beat the Monday blues and have a better workweek. Calm. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://www.calm.com/blog/monday-blues ↩︎
- Smith, J. (2013, February 25). 11 Ways to Beat the Monday Blues. Forbes. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/02/25/11-ways-to-beat-the-monday-blues/?sh=8d8ecd423f5c ↩︎
