Case Of The Mondays
and a few shots of espresso
Maya stares at the cup of coffee she’s just poured sitting on her desk. She knows she’ll need it to get through the next few hours but she’s hoping it’s strong enough to get her through the entire day.
Would that cup be strong enough to change not just her focus but her feelings and thoughts too?
She’s a junior analyst who’s been told she’s on the fast track to becoming the next senior analyst in a few months. Clearly she’s capable and that means more money, but she’s beginning to wonder if it’s even worth it. The work makes sense, she does a great job, but she’s constantly finding herself dissatisfied with the work itself. Maya doesn’t dislike the process of researching and crunching numbers, but neither does she enjoy it.
Maya has begun to hear own voice in her thoughts, regularly saying, “In college it seemed so clear that this was the path I wanted to take, but now I’m not so sure.”
Seeking a finance degree and then pursuing a career at a hedge fund made sense. Professors and family echoed that this idea was smart and secure.
What they should have said was this career path was financially safe. She was beginning to understand how money could not make you happy. A smart financial move did not instantly mean it would be safe emotionally or mentally.
Maya longed for the weekends. On weekends she didn’t need any coffee. She could spend countless hours drawing and painting. In those hours she wasn’t questioning herself and her smile radiated from within.
As the weekend drew closer to Monday something in her would shift and she would grow distant. The thought of Monday’s impending tyranny had begun to creep into Sunday nights. And this Sunday night was no different from the others.
She began to wonder if she could take a sick day, but she had no fever, no cold. Shoot she didn’t even have plans to go anywhere to actually take a vacation day. So that was it, work would start again tomorrow.
Another Monday begins and she plasters a feigned smile on her face as she nods to colleagues in the office. Everyone is lined up in the break room either waiting their turn for coffee or tea. She hears the usual chatter of folks discussing their weekend and everyone echoing that the weekends are never long enough.
Maya finds herself wondering, “If this is how everyone feels, then why do we still do this?”
“Who said it had to be this way?”
“Is anyone actually happy doing this?”
Someone had to be, in order for long career professionals to push this standard work agenda to younger professionals and even students.
She understood that every single day of her life couldn’t necessarily be a mountain peak experience but something about this felt closer to a never ending valley. To get by during each work day she fuelled herself with coffee hoping it could remove her focus from her sorrows.
Later that day, Maya saw an article about people leaving their careers and changing their lifestyles. She wished she could figure out how to model what these people had done, but she feared she couldn’t make painting a financially successful business.
She’d grown accustomed to the financial security she had even if it wasn’t personally fulfilling.
It felt like she’d have to choose between an unfulfilled but lucrative career or a fulfilling option that led her to the poor house.
Even if there were people who proved this to not be true, she wasn’t sure she could be different like them. She’d bought the lie that her capitalist society sold her.
Her spirit and essence hadn’t yet been broken enough to realize the change was worth the risk.
For the time being, the coffee seemed like it would be enough to bear another Monday.
Everyone working the standard 9 to 5 or similar schedule finds themselves having a case of the Mondays. It’s the day we all dread because it marks the beginning of a new workweek. We’ve accepted it as standard yet many of us feel a deep weight mentally and emotionally from this.
Every person can’t just up and quit their jobs, but we must be mindful about whether we are doing work that makes us happy and leaves the impact we hope for. If what you’re currently doing is destroying your essence as a human, work to change that. And if you can’t afford to make that change, consider taking a sick day for your mental health. You may not be physically sick, but you may be mentally unwell. More time to recharge could help you manage a healthier career.
