Do you dread Monday mornings? And do you spend most of your Sunday worrying and feeling anxious about the week ahead? If this sounds like you, then here are 4 habits to feel happier throughout the week. These will help you get through the week feeling happy and empowered.
Sunday scaries are a thing, and I used to get them… all.the.time. By mid-morning on Sunday, my chest would start to tighten, I would get sad that the weekend was over and I would get overwhelmed and anxious at the thought of the workweek.
But that’s no way to live. I never wanted to be the person that lives for the weekend and that only looks forward to Friday because it’s the last day of the workweek.
I get it though, I’ve been there – you work a job you don’t like. You have a lot of sh*t going on and an endless to do list, and yet, you feel like your life doesn’t really have a deeper meaning beyond your job and your to do list.
The solution to that runs deeper because it will require introspection and reflection for you to better understand concepts like happiness, success and your life’s purpose. Because when you have a better understanding of what happiness means to you and what you want to create in your life, then it will become easier to create.
But for now, let’s focus on something more tangible and perhaps a little less overwhelming: How to start your workweek feeling happier so that you living more intentionally throughout the week instead of simply waiting to “live fully” on the weekend.
Grab your journal to take some notes whenever you get ideas! Here are 4 habits that will make you feel happier throughout the week.
HAPPIER HABIT # 1 | Organize your week
WAIT! Before you continue scrolling to the next habit, hear me out, because this isn’t your typical “plan the week ahead”. Yes, planning is important especially in terms of your schedule and life obligations (I know, adulting sucks sometimes).
But when I mean organize your week, I mean planning things like:
- Your workouts
- Meal ideas (or full on meal prepping if you’re into that)
- Self-care (i.e. schedule a pampering session on Wednesday where you go all out with taking a bath, doing a mask and watching your favourite show)
- Your habits: What’s a habit you want to intentionally cultivate this week? Drinking more water? Getting your daily steps in? Listening to a podcast every day?
- Socialize: Can you schedule a call date or in-person coffee date with a friend on a lunch break? Or perhaps schedule a little get-together on a weeknight. Who says that you can’t go out for dinner – you gotta eat at some point!
You see, when you look at your days as an opportunity to create small moments of joy for yourself, then it becomes a lot less dreadful.
Your job might be tough and you might be going through a rough patch in life. But always have the mindset of “What can I do to enjoy the journey…even it’s a little bit.” and by planning your week ahead, then you can schedule things that you look forward to which will get you through the week feeling happier.
HAPPIER HABIT # 2 | Focus on intentional habits + routines
I touched on this in the previous section but I wanted to elaborate a bit more here.
If you want to live a happier life and if you want to get through your workweeks feeling more present in your life, then you have to cultivate habits that make you feel how you want to feel.
Do you want to feel energized? Well, what makes you feel energized? An early morning walk before you start your work? Or maybe a yoga session after work? Or maybe you enjoy a little pilates during your lunch break.
Do you want to have a more positive mindset? Then perhaps you need to cultivate the habit of journaling so that you can start your day feeling grateful and positive, and you can end your day mindfully while giving yourself the space to feel and think
Whatever it might be, you have to take a step back and think about how you want to feel, and then cultivating a habit that will support and feed into those feelings.
So what’s one habit that came to mind that you’ve been to be more consistent with? Now DO IT! What are you waiting for!
HAPPIER HABIT # 3 | Rest intentionally
We often mistake resting with distracting. What I mean is that sometimes, we think we are resting when in fact, we are just distracting ourselves but our life, our chores, or from our thoughts and emotions.
Listen, I get it. Life can suck sometimes. Reading the news is heavy. And life can just get HEAVY.
But… life goes on. We have obligations and #adulting things to do and they have to get done. So what I would encourage you to do is to be mindful with how you spend your time. Focus and be productive and get your sh*t done in the shortest amount of time, so that way you can open up mental space and TIME for you to actually to do things that you enjoy.
And if you need to rest, if you feel like you are mentally and emotionally drained and exhausted…then REST! But be INTENTIONAL about it. If you need to rest, CHOOSE to rest. Don’t scroll mindlessly on social media and then realize 2 hours later that you haven’t touched the laundry.
I would also encourage you to diversify your methods of resting. Watching TV is great and all, and you WILL catch me sitting on my a*s on a Saturday evening, scrolling on my phone while the TV is on in the background.
But I also want you to grow your methods of resting.
- Do some light stretches in front of the TV.
- Read a book in bed before sleeping.
- Do something creative like calligraphy or drawing or painting.
- Work on a DIY project around the house.
Resting is mental and it’s physical. So as long as you’re paying attention to what you need and you are intentionally choosing to rest in the way that you need, then you are golden!
And keep in mind that this doesn’t only apply to the weekend. You have to rest intentionally throughout the week. Check-in with yourself. If you didn’t sleep well and you find yourself particularly tired one day, then skip your intense workout and opt for a light yoga session in your living room. If you feel emotionally drained, then perhaps a quiet journaling session is the rest that you need.
HAPPIER HABIT # 4 | Set goals + intentions
If you haven’t noticed by now, there’s a trend of being intentional with your habits and routines and really being pro-active with your happiness.
Because happiness is ultimately a habit that you can cultivate through your daily habits, routines. And one of those habits is to set goals and intentions.
- Related : The Secret to Living a Happier Life
You can set daily or weekly goals and intentions, it’s really up to you. I like to spend some time on Sunday evenings to reflect on the previous week so that I can adjust and be more mindful of the week ahead. And I also set daily goals and intentions.
What does that look like?
Setting goals + intentions means asking yourself and deeply reflecting on the following questions:
- How do I want to feel…today or this week? What emotions do I want to experience?
- What do I need to DO to experience those emotions? What am I committed to doing for myself to make sure that I am able to experience these emotions?
- What are my intentions for today? At the end of the day, when I look back at the day that I just had, what do I want it to have looked like? What did I accomplish? What did I do?
Go through these questions and keep pushing your thinking and really take the time to reflect. Because ultimately, days become weeks, and weeks become months…and before you know it, a year has gone by. And these are the building blocks of your life.
So if you want to live a happier life then you have to cultivate the habits that will support the kind of life you want to live.
TAKE ACTION
Choose one of the habits from the blog post and commit to cultivating them this week. That’s all you’re going to do for the next 2-3 weeks. And then once you feel more confident in it, you can add another one.
Take it step-by-step. Don’t overwhelm yourself and think you have to do a complete overhaul of your life. Small steps count and will accumulate with time to ultimately help you get closer to creating and living your dream life.
Let me know in the comments below which specific habit you’re committed to cultivating this week and then come back and let me know how it went!
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