The Monday Rule
How a self check-in helped me survive the tough days
Let’s talk about Mondays (I know, I know, just stick with me).
A few years ago, during a season at work when I felt invisible and neglected by my leadership, unenthused by what little work I had and overall pretty disengaged, the misery meter would crank up to 1000 on Mondays.
I would daydream about giving my notice, strutting out in a blaze of glory (”Free Bird” blasting in the background) and going to work anywhere else but Corporate America…a bookstore in a small mountain town, a surf shop in Hawai’i, maybe open up one of those mall kiosks and sell knick-knacks.
I would just try to survive Mondays, go home, go to bed at 8 (not an exaggeration) and simply accept the L.
But then, on Tuesdays…I was optimistic? Pleasant?? Hell, even cheery! The dark clouds from Monday would subside and suddenly I wouldn’t feel miserable anymore. It was the strangest thing.
This happened pretty much every week without fail. Miserable on Monday, fine the rest of the week. And unless everyone around me was also hovering their hands over the eject button but just hiding it better than I was, I was convinced this phenomenon only happened to me.
So, I made The Monday Rule. The rule stipulates that I’m forbidden from making any life-changing decisions on Mondays. I could imagine all I wanted about quitting my job and uprooting my life, but I had to let those thoughts come and go like clouds moving across the sky. It was a clear boundary with myself.
I know this might sound silly, simplistic and obvious, but it had a profound effect on my mood and my outlook on those Mondays when it felt easier to hit reset and do anything else. Rather than resist or suppress the anxieties and thoughts that were inevitable, I codified patience and self-control to meet myself where I was at. The rule took the pressure off to figure out my entire life in that moment; instead, I could focus on just making it through the day and giving myself grace knowing that, well, Mondays just plain suck.
The Monday Rule was born out of a self check-in, from simply noticing my tendencies and confronting them in a small way. And the regular self-check-in is one of the hallmarks of my personal and professional philosophy. Its power is rooted in self-awareness, a skill that is worth cultivating no matter where on the career journey you find yourself.
Don’t quit your job today,