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The start of a new week can be an anxiety-inducing time, so we're here to suggest a list of educational books to beat your Monday Blues...
What Are Monday Blues?
It’s a Sunday afternoon and you feel a sense of impending doom… is a catastrophic event about to happen? No, it’s just Monday tomorrow...
If you have ever been relaxing and enjoying your weekend and then suddenly remember that tomorrow is Monday and feel a sense of dread, you are not alone, the Monday Blues are real!
This term refers to a sense of dread and anxiety that occurs often on the weekend when you think about the start of the new week ahead. While it's not a clinical term, it is a real phenomenon experienced mainly by students and full-time workers. The symptoms can physically manifest as headaches, tense muscles and even high blood pressure.
The start of a new week means you’re likely to return to work or school, and even if you enjoy your current job or your school environment, the anxiety you feel can be due to anticipating new challenges and events, or you might have an underlying stressor that needs to be brought to light.
So how do you stay positive when you look towards the next week?
Address the Root of Your Anxiety
Discovering the cause of your Monday Blues is the key to starting your resistance to them. Lost Connections by Johann Hari explores the causes of depression and anxiety beyond just biological factors. The book discusses the social and environmental contributors to mental health issues and proposes innovative solutions to reconnect with what truly matters in life.
A radically new way of thinking about depression and anxiety
Lost Connections explains how mental health issues largely stem from disconnection in key areas of our lives: disconnection from meaningful work, other people, meaningful values, childhood trauma, status and respect, the natural world, a hopeful or secure future, and the role of genes and brain changes.
Hari doesn’t just diagnose; he offers solutions. Drawing on cutting-edge research, he reveals pioneering new approaches which can help restore our lives and mental health. These solutions range from reconnecting with the people around us and gaining meaningful work to embracing social reforms and therapeutic strategies.
By understanding the real causes, we can find the real solutions.
Books Like Lost Connections:
"While the Monday blues may not be a clinical illness, the feeling of dread for some people is real.” ~ MedicalNewsToday
Discover the Power of Rest and Relaxation
If your Monday Blues are stopping you from enjoying your weekends because you are preoccupied with next week's to-do list, Wintering is a personal memoir combined with practical self-help tools which reaffirms your need to rest and relax even in the busiest of times.
The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
Wintering by Katherine May offers readers an intimate and revelatory exploration into the quieter, often overlooked periods of life.
Through a thoughtful narrative, May discusses the times when we must step back to care for and repair ourselves, emphasizing the natural cycles of retreat and renewal. She artfully blends personal memoir with insightful reflections on the ebb and flow of life's seasons, revealing how these fallow periods are as essential to our well-being as the vibrant moments of summer.
This book is a must-read for anyone seeking understanding, compassion, and a reminder of the natural rhythm that connects us all.
Books Like Wintering:
Prepare For The Week Ahead
Writing out your to-do list in advance can alleviate the stress of unknown or unexpected events since you will be more prepared to handle them as they come up. The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll introduces a unique system combining elements of a to-do list, diary, and sketchbook, providing tools to track the past, organise the present, and plan for the future.
Track Your Past, Plan Your Future
The Bullet Journal Method is much more than a mere time management book. It's also a manifesto for "intentional living," a philosophy where your beliefs and actions are in harmony. Even if you’re already familiar with the Bullet Journal, this book offers new exercises, insights, and wisdom to deepen your practice. Discover how to leverage the simplicity of analogue tools in our increasingly digital world, all while fostering a sense of calm and focus.
Note: This book is printed with three different cover designs: black, Nordic blue, and emerald and we cannot accommodate requests for specific cover colours; they will be assigned to orders at random. Enjoy the surprise!
Books Like The Bullet Journal Method:
Begin Your Healing Journey
We hope these titles inspire you to begin your journey to improve your stress, anxiety or depression so that you can enjoy your weekend and have a more positive outlook on a Monday. These titles and authors mentioned in this blog contain useful tools to help you to remove stressors contributing to a bad case of the Monday Blues. In summary, your main steps to resisting the Monday Blues are:
Addressing what's causing your Monday Blues
Remembering to take time to rest and relax
Planning early for the week ahead
