Monday Mood Management

Exploring ways to consciously manage mood at the start of the week

The alarm doesn’t go off. I wake up late. I didn’t get up early enough to move the elf on the shelf. I rush downstairs to move him. The eldest is awake. ‘Buddy didn’t move’ he says. ‘Maybe he likes it there’ I reply. Buddy is the elf on the shelf. Yes, from Elf.

I’ve got to walk the dog, and then take the youngest into school for an early club. I shower. Adding a cold shower to the end. Something I’ve been doing for over a year. It just feels much colder now. I put the coffee on. Walk the dog. Stick on a pod. I come back home and sit down to the caffeine and my to-do list app, Marvin.

Right, what have I got to do? Balls, I’m doing this Zoe thing. I’ve got to eat an avocado. Just an avocado. Can I add lemon? Salt? Pepper? I don’t know. I might mess up the test. It’s so I can monitor my blood sugar levels in reaction to different foods.

I prepare the avocado (without all the added bits) and quickly wolf it down whilst reminding my youngest to get ready. I drive him to school, thinking about my day and week ahead. No externalisation in my to-do app. What will I write about today? When will I do it? My day is full and I have an evening dinner with some dads of our kids.

I get back home and book a Lime bike. Hop on and get a message from my wife it’s her new playlist for her yoga class. I make a mental note, and get back to the pod while I (semi)cycle through the dark rain.

I go to a coffee shop near my office and order a pour over coffee because I can’t have any milk for my 3 hour fast.

Getting meta.

I sit down and write.

Already it feels like a ‘Manic Monday’, and I need to get control. Or I feel like I need to get control. The weather is set in a way that I could feel really bad. I must remember to put on that SAD lamp.

Managing my Monday Mood is key to my week ahead. And today, I have things working against me. What can I do? What would you do?

I realise I have a short window of time before my telephone appointment from my doctor. It’s from some blood tests from a few weeks ago. I’ve been avoiding the conclusion.

I’ve already started writing this in my Hemingway app. And then my coffee arrives. Still dripping.

Writing this will help. Done is beautiful. If I write it and publish it, I will have ticked off a huge to-do off my list. A huge dopamine hit to start the week. Then maybe I’ll tick off some little things ahead of my calls and an important client call at 2pm, before a coaching session at 4pm.

I am no high performing CEO. I used to get up at 5am. And conditioned my eldest to do the same. How annoying for our present selves. Since pandemic, I wake later, and I’m trying to sleep longer since having a few health scares this year and hearing repeatedly how helpful sleep is.

I try and embrace rituals. Or habits. They often help. What do you do to manage your Monday mood?

I typically try and get some music on to temper my mood. I remember Kelly’s Vyanu Vayu playlist. Good timing because the chatter in the coffee shop is bothering me. Right, stick it on.

I try to sketch out some of my to-dos this week. Hold on a minute…

A quick start of my week ahead. More will be added, but this excites and comforts me.

In a bit of a time-constrained craze as I want to get back to this writing.

I am excited, but a little scared for the week ahead. It’s full of great things. Some amazing catchups. One scary one. An important client all-dayer. And some beautiful coaching sessions. Somewhere between it all, I need to write for this challenge and finish off a project. And invoice them. Which means I need to do my expenses. I hate doing my expenses.

One of the most beautiful Air tunes comes on in the playlist. It’s one I recommended to Kelly. It has that memorable hook from ‘All I need’ but it’s from one of their early EPs. A tear forms. It’s beautiful.

Radiohead’s Everything in Its Right Place comes on. Comforting. Warm. Like a warm blanket of love. It’s how I imagine Heroin feeling at the best moments. But I don’t have to deal with the chemical consequences.

So, yes, music is key to managing my mood. Especially on Mondays. With foresight I sometimes create my playlists for the week on Sunday evening. But I didn’t do that today. Luckily Kelly’s playlist game is far better than mine right now.

I have made a few Monday-related playlists. One I created was called ‘Monday Blues Fighting’. Andotehr was my ‘Happy’ Playlist. Typically funky, cheery, and groovy disco and funk tunes. A diversion from the atmospheric, electronic instrumental music I’d typically favour to work to. The purpose to raise my mood. Not necessarily to work to.

At one stage, I even put a direct link to my Happy Playlist on my loupedeck. All I’d have to do was to push the Happy button and it would trigger my playlist to come on. I could do this with vocie, but I have to knopw to do this. And that’s often the challenge. Sensing into the feeling, and remembering you have some actions to shift that (if you want to), is the hard bit. Coming up with the actions themselves is much easier.

When I get to the office, I’ll get my loupedeck working again and take a photo for this article. It would be nice to have it on again anyway.

The coffee is getting cold. Something new for me. It was nice. But not quite what I needed. Damn Zoe tests. I need to crack on with something else and need to wrap this up.

Whether you’re feeling you’re going to have a Manic Monday, or a Blue Monday (So many different Monday tunes). Or another kind of Monday. I believe you can find a way to navigate it. By preparing yourself. And as much of your environment as possible.

For me, today, it’s:

• Writing this
• Doing some to-do planning for the week ahead
• Sticking on a playlist of music that is going to help me work or shift my mood
• Putting on my SAD lamp at the office

What could you do? What will you do? And when will you do it?

Some questions or challenges if you’re not sure:

• What music could help you? What music makes you feel happy? What helps you focus? What music can help you feel a little more of what you want? Sometimes it could just be taking a few mins out to listen attentively to one beautiful song you love. And do nothing else (huge thanks to my coachee for that one). Or a playlist to do something else to.
• What can you eat? Without crashing you later.
• What can you do physically? Could be exercise. Could be morning sex if someone else is willing.
• What different thing could you do? How could you inject a bit of variety into your day?
• What could you do a bit more of? It could be a few more mins in the shower, or bath.
• If you don’t have a joy list, consider writing one. Just start capturing what food, drink, activities or thoughts makes you happy. And keep adding to it when you can.
• Think about how you might remind yourself of your joys or other strategies that can shift your mood?

Ok. I feel like I may need to come back to this one. But for now, I need to share it and switch to something else.

Please let me know how you get on.