Blue Mondays: When the Inner Critic Sets the Tone

Like many others, I’ve never really looked forward to Mondays or the return to work after the weekend. There was a time in my last role when Mondays felt heavy long before they arrived. Even thinking about going back to work would cast a shadow over the weekend. By the time Monday came, I was already braced for the week ahead.

Often, as soon as I walked through the door on a Monday morning after saying good morning my next sentence would be downbeat, setting a negative tone for the week before it had even begun. At the time, I didn’t fully recognise how much this had become part of my routine.

A colleague gently pointed this out to me. They noticed how negative I had become and shared their concern that others might notice too including how it could affect my work. While difficult to hear, that conversation became an important turning point. It helped me recognise how my own inner narrative was shaping not only my experience of Mondays, but also the environment I was bringing into work.

My consistent complaints about Mondays eventually led this same colleague who was hearing my growing negativity to suggest that I attend a seminar with them run by an organisation called Action for Happiness.

Action for Happiness developed what they call the 10 Keys to Happier Living a set of evidence-informed strategies grounded in research on wellbeing. Part of this work looks beyond traditional measures of success, such as GDP for wealth, and instead explores what contributes to happiness, gratitude, contentment, and overall wellbeing at a societal level.