Hate Mondays? Here's the Equation for Why

So a psychologist in England seems to have an inordinate amount of time on his hands as well as a great desire to point out something with scientific backing that requires no real computation but a bit of common sense. However, the work of Cliff Arnall points out that through the use of his equation, today, January 21st can officially be declared Blue Monday... or the gloomiest day of the year. According to his exhaustive research and computation, today is the day that marks the end of the post-Christmas cheer season, the realization of how much debt on has accrued and the realization that there are not many more holidays for a long while now while it's inevitable that you will be going back to work today. So the formula results in major bouts of depression. I'm sure there are a lot of readers out there saying 'Duh' or other such expressions of dismay at so obvious an output to a truly unnecessary equation.

Now having been a part of the working world for over a decade now I can honestly say that there are times when I have woken up on Monday mornings with an overriding sense of dread and there were others where I have woken up with a smile. Now before you think me absolutely crazy, please bear in mind that I have full justification for my attitude. I have worked off and on since my second year in high school and at those times I used to alternate between both phases. I used to dread Mondays because despite it being summer, I used to be up at dawn to get to work and then would spend the whole day there before heading home in the evenings to listen to my brother talk about all the fun I missed out on those days. It was a terrible feeling at times but still, the pride would come from the fact that I was getting paid pretty well for a high school student and getting valuable job experience at the same time. But more than the money, my enjoyment came from the fact that I enjoyed what I was doing and working with the people on my team.

Later on as I progressed through the years I went through a variety of different jobs with different companies and different teams and depending on who I was working with, my attitude varied greatly. Looking back on it now I realized the one portion of the equation that Arnall ignored is probably the most important and that is your co-workers. If you have a group that is constantly depressed or down all the time, the likelihood of your being the same way is greater. However, if you have a fun group that gets the job done and keeps up the attitude then you're more likely to enjoy the coming of Mondays. There was one job I worked where I was the only one born after 1960, I was surrounded by people getting ready to retire who hated their jobs, hated their bosses and hated working in general. I used to dread Sunday evenings because I knew that come Monday morning I'd have to face a week of boredom and frustration.

As I moved on to better jobs I found that attitude changing and though I do have some regret on Sunday nights, it's more from the standpoint that I have to get up early the next day and not because I have to go to work. I now work in an environment where I have a great group of people who I have a lot of respect for, are knowledgeable and are great to work with. Their attitude makes a whole lot of difference and though we all complain at times, I do know that I'm not alone and that I've got sympathetic ears that will help boost any flagging attitude I may have. Perhaps I should patent my counter equation to Arnall's equation and try and rake in the big bucks. At least it would make Monday more memorable.