There have been actual scientific studies that say Mondays are Americans’ worst day of the week. We get the least amount of work done and most people won’t smile until after 11 am.
But scientific studies are often merely a reflection of our lives.
They don’t tell us Why. They only confirm our already established suspicions.
Everyone hates Mondays.
Let’s interview 5000 people and have them tell us all about how much work they don’t accomplish, or when they smile, or if they’re any happier on other days of the week. Then put it in a scientific journal, spread it online and have everyone else agree that it is normal to be unhappy on a Monday.
But it isn’t normal. Why should it be? If you’re lazy and unhappy on a Monday, you’re just a lazy and unhappy person. Okay so your workweek starts on a Monday. If your workweek started on Tuesday would you not come into work saying you have a case of the Tuesdays?
There’s an unhealthy cycle here about what’s considered to be normal.
America has more imprisoned individuals than any other nation in the world – does that mean it’s normal for Americans to imprison their youth? No. Why do we continue to do something terrible just because everyone else agrees? If I sent out a fake psychology study on how Mondays are actually the most productive day of the week and that anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong, would the world agree? Maybe. Hell, we all know fake news has made its way into the public sphere of conversation recently.
If a scientific study says so, then it must be right!
Wrong.
Don’t let averages take you over.
Don’t be a follower. And if you want to follow, because some people do and that’s okay, then don’t complain when you follow a crowd of lazy, unhappy people. Speaking of, did you know most European nations fit nap-time into their schedule? Near noon everything and everyone stops what they’re doing and takes a siesta. It’s not lazy, it’s smart. It’s also wildly misconstrued. If you actually talked to anyone from those cultures they’d tell you they end up working even more throughout the day. These siestas are not always naps, or micro vacations. They’re often filled with errands and tasks usually done after the working day. People have to work around the hour more than we have to work without it. They compensate for time lost, getting home later, sleeping later, etc. Our brains need time to relax, and if America does one thing right, it’s pushing ourselves to our limits. I met a German tourist once who was baffled by our work ethic here in America.
She asks me,
When you’re sick, you don’t make money?
That’s right, beautiful freedom hater.
And you have to work for your money? It must be so hard.
Because it is. Working is hard. Deal with it, America.
My uncle married a young woman from the Philippines who asked him why he’d ever want to return to America. You’ll just have to work every day until you die.
Welcome home, Uncle!
Stop making such a big deal about our Mondays. It’s the price we pay for our supposed freedom. Go take a nap for crying out loud. Call it a siesta if it makes you feel better. I know people who can sleep for 15 minutes and feel as fresh as a cold shower. If your boss argues with you just point out all the cigarette smokers in your office and say, well if you count up all the times they go out to smoke I’m sure it’ll be longer than my 15 minute nap.
If we all stopped whining, there wouldn’t be a statistic anymore, and no one would have little averages to hide behind. So let’s take the initiative to be busier on Mondays. Let’s come in headstrong like we just had two days off - which we all did. If Americans were any smarter we’d do most of our work on Monday and take the rest of the week to relax.
Now that should be the American Way.
Let’s get ahead of everyone who wants to attack my point of view here…
You’re right - the 40 hour work week is designed to destroy us. It’s been argued that in its conception - a 40 hour work week - is the ultimate goal of keeping Americans ever-tried and forever depleted of the energy necessary to elevate them into a better way of life. Take artists, for example. How many of them have a full time job? How many of those day jobs are stealing 40 hours a week from them? Probably not many.
Because how in the hell can anyone get anything done outside of that demand?
I held a consistent full time job for almost two years. I did it because I liked the company, the people I worked with, the opportunities it gave me, and the work itself. However, I found myself in a perpetual state of stress at work and decompression outside of it. I would come home and immediately crash on the couch. All I wanted was my beer or my weed and a good television show or comic book. I no longer wrote fiction. I hardly ever drew in my sketchbook, and I sure as hell didn’t go out anymore. It was a restrictive way of life.
40 hours a week, accounting for 2 hours of travel a day, with 8 hours of sleep a night, I’m left with 62 hours in a week that I can relax. If you account for the weekend (which I often worked) then I’m really only left with 6 hours every weekday to relax. To relax! Not to accomplish creative feats, or to visit my family and friends, or even read a book. Minus dinner, minus breakfast, that’s like 3 hours a day. What the hell am I going to do in three hours? I can hardly get my mind in writing position without an hour or two of prep. It’s no wonder the idea of a starving artists exists - they can’t afford to have a job and create art at the same time! I know I couldn’t. Did anyone see me writing blogs or short stories while I was still employed? Did anyone see me inside a neighborhood watering hole while still employed? Did anyone invite me to a gallery or production and expect me to show while I still had a job? No.
So we’re left to ask ourselves - what is more important? Stability or Creativity? Consistency or Happiness? A case of the Mondays or a proactive day in which we accomplish what we set ourselves up to achieve?