Anyhow, if you’re feeling slumped first thing on a morning, this sometimes means that your day may not be as productive as it perhaps could be. But, having said that, just a few simple changes to your Sunday night routine, diet and sleep pattern can all have a huge impact on your mentality for the start of the working week. If this sounds like it may benefit you, read on…
If you have a busy weekend, packed with partying, trips out or physical activity, this can have a large strain on your body and so in order to re-energise, you need to ensure that you give your body that little bit of Sunday night TLC that it needs. Equally, if you do absolutely nothing one weekend (I’m talking the couch potato, slouched in front of the television watching endless box-sets and eating junk food kinda vibe) this can also have a negative effect on the start of your working week if you don’t snap out of sleep-mode beforehand. Of course, we all love a party. Equally we also all love a lounging day, however it’s all about everything in moderation and ensuring that we get back in to the motivational frame of mind ready to attack that Monday morning!
So, what are my recommendations? If you’ve had a couple of late nights Friday, Sat and had a pretty busy Sunday, you need to make sure that you relax for at least an hour or 2 on the Sunday night prior to going to sleep. Reason being, if you don’t unwind before going to bed, this can actually interfere with your sleep and be responsible for your restless night.
And by relaxing, this is not sitting on the couch scrolling endlessly through social media, as this can also affect your mind frame! We all know the Sunday afternoon ‘let’s compare ourselves to our Instagram idols’ social media kind of habit. Not only does this take up time where you should be focusing on yourself to uplift from the busy weekend, it can also affect your mind frame as you give yourself a hard time, stressing that ‘your hair’s not as nice as hers, you don’t have a thigh gap - and gosh, you better get squatting.’ This equally has a negative impact on your mind frame as you’re not giving your thoughts a break and then these feelings can again hinder your sleep and affect how you wake up in the morning.
Now you’re probably thinking, don’t sit on Instagram for 2 hours? Well what am I going to do? We all spend SO much time on social media, sometimes it’s actually quite refreshing to put the phone down and instead of focusing on lots of other people (that the majority of the time you don’t actually know in person), instead, use that time to focus on yourself.
Instead of worrying about what you don’t have, how about you make a list of achievements that you have gained over the last few months. From these achievements, work out how you got there and what helped you along the way. I recommend then that you keep these lists and then from this, write down a few things that you hope to achieve, or develop in the near future. Then, once every month or so, get out this little box to, number 1 - remind yourself of all the amazing things that you have done, and number 2 – to also see how far you have come with your development plans.
Next, get out your favourite pampering equipment. I’m talking bath bombs, body lotions, candles, oils – the works! Create a little home-spa and take an hour out to actually just relax and unwind from all the busy-ness, away from your phone and social networks. This will most probably feel like the longest hour of your life, and it will be a good-hour at that!
Next recommendation, READ! How many of you can honestly say that you have read a book, journal, paper magazine (none digital) in the last month? It’s important to occupy your mind with things other than work, how busy your weekend has been and social media comparing etc. By doing this, you instantly divulge in to whatever you’re reading and without realising, this relaxes your mind and gives you a bit of head-space.
A slightly silly one, but, next I recommend tidying. I’m not talking the big spring clean kind of clear out. But just a short, 10-minute flit-round your room, as honestly, waking up in a messy room on a Monday morning is the instant demotivator! Your get-ready space instantly lacks organisation, appearance, space, and trust me – this can contribute to a bad start to the week. Mess = stress, and then that dreaded feeling all day that you have to go home to an untidy room when you get home. Another little tip, surround yourself with things that make you smile and give you an instant mood lift. Flowers, pictures, photos – whatever it is that can just alter your home atmosphere. Oh and make that bed too when you leave on a Monday morning, another instant gripe when you turn up home to find an un-made crumpled sleeping arrangement!
Alternatively, if you have had a complete chiller of a TV/films weekend, then before all of the above, I would recommend fresh-air. Fresh air is the ultimate healer and clean-space for thinking and clearing the mind. Plus, as we said if you’ve spent all day cooped up at home, this can interfere with your productivity as without realising, you enter a bit of an accidental lazy-mode and can lack motivation. A short walk to break up a lazy weekend is the perfect way to snap out of the lounging, and then this also gives you a reason to be worthy of a chill! Even if you’ve had a ridiculously busy weekend, a 5 minute stroll is always good for anybody, as even small exercise releases endorphin's to improve the mind-frame!
Now, this one is dependent on personal preference, but a 30-min exercise is excellent to strengthen the body and also to relieve the mind of any built-up stress from the previous week. Whether your exercise regime is a little session in the gym, a jog around the park, a swim at the baths, or it may be that you are in to a particular sport or you follow exercise videos? Whichever this may be, the national recommendation is to exercise at least 3 days per week for 30 minutes, just to ensure that your body remains active and to improve general health.
Diet. The dreaded word. But no, we’re not talking the Atkins, 5:2, and Paleo kind of FAD’s. We’re talking overall nutrition. We all know, the weekend is our bad-influence to eat carbs-overload, lots of sugar and often a few cocktails or 2. During this time, your body is neglected and deprived of many vitamins and minerals that are important to your daily function. It’s therefore important to make sure you replace these lost vits by eating healthy snacks and a super-food meal for dinner.
Your bedtime. And we literally mean the time. Often on a weekend you may find yourself going to bed after hours and running on 6 hours sleep. Great, it’s wonderful to be busy and to hit the party/social scene with friends, family and relatives. The old saying, work-hard, play-hard, is true. However, you do need to make sure that you re-boot and get enough sleep in order to make it through the week to the next weekend. When talking to people I've heard that the average sleep each human should have is 8-8 ½ hours per night. So, depending on when your Monday morning wake-up call is, make sure that you have lights out before 11, and we’d say try and make this 10 if you can. Just to make sure you get that much-needed rest that you require.
So, let’s recap…
Your new Sunday afternoon/night regime in short:
- Put down the mobile phone/tablet for at least an hour and stop comparing yourself to media ideals!
- Have lots of Healthy snacks and nutrient-rich foods
- Make a list of current achievements and plans for your development for the future (review every few weeks!)
- Go for a little 5 minute stroll or 30 mins exercise (dependent on your kind of weekend)
- Create a mini home-spa
- Tidy and surround yourself with positive things
- Pamper yourself – (nails, hair/face mask, body butters, and candles)
- Chill & Read (Something other than social media)
- Lights out before 11pm
Really hope you’ve enjoyed this read, and be sure to let us know if you’ve tried any of our tips and if they work to help you feel extra-energised!
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