How to NOT Hate Your Mondays

Last six months were interesting to me.

I lost nearly 10 kilograms.

Fixed my sleep.

Went from serial snoozer to someone who can wake up at 5 30AM every day without using an alarm clock.

Have vastly changed my relationship with food.

Stopped buy junk that I don't need.  

Overall, I feel more centered.

All these changes are achieved by introducing some small modifications in my lifestyle.

In this series, I'll document my journey and my learning.

To me, everything starts with “stop hatting your Mondays”. Or in another word by changing your perception about work and pleasure.

How do I do it you ask?

Well, here's how it goes.  

Stop what you are doing: Why do we hate Mondays? Are there things we are doing or not doing during the weekend that makes our Mondays the worst? Stop and think about it.

We build so many expectations for the weekend during the week. We'll travel, catch up with all the pending work, meet friends, party, read and what not.

But as the weekend arrives we are paralyzed but the weight of our own exceptions. So, all we do is to sleep, binge eat/drink/watch Netflix.

And as the weekend fades away we try to hold on till the last possible moment. We stay up till late dreading Monday. And when Monday comes we feel miserable. And the cycle repeats... on and on and on...     

But do we really need to save our lives for the weekend? A better approach will be to distribute our expectations through the week. Don't overburden your weekend so much that it weighs you down.  

I recently read Hooked by Nir Eyal where he talks about how our brains perceive pleasure.

It turns out that, there is this part in our brain called the Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc), responsible for seeking pleasure. Human beings will go to any extent to simulate this part of the brain. In fact, Nir cites a study where people were enabled to simulate their NAccs using electric signals. The addiction was so strong that after some time the researchers had to remove the participants using force to prevent using them the machine. 

However, the funny thing is your NAcc is activated by anticipation of pleasure but by not the pleasure itself.

This explains why we feel that craving to eat junk food but feel horrible after we actually had some. Or buy clothes that we don't actually wear.

The good thing is that you can use this psychology in your favor.

Here's where a morning routine comes. Create a morning routine so pleasurable that it overrides other negative emotions.

My morning routine goes like this:

Wake up at 5:30 every day

Have coffee (I take it in the form Caffeine+Theanine. (Will explain it later in the post.)

Listen to something motivational for 10 minutes (Just go to YouTube and search for morning motivation. It sounds like fluff but there are tons of research to prove that priming actually works.)

Meditate for 10 minutes

Have a protein shake

Go to the gym

Come back and have breakfast

This is a routine now I look forward to every day. It's so pleasurable to me that I’ll avoid all activities that will potentially break my routine.

I do traditional weight training for 45 minutes a day, 4–5 times a week.

Fix your sleep: You need to fix your sleep. Period. With all the technology, blue lights, and distractions, sleep deprivation has become an epidemic.

So, look at your sleep pattern. Use a wearable to track your sleep to see if you are getting enough sleep.

A sleep routine helps.

Instead of watching TV, read. Listen to music. Meditate. Take 200mg L-Theanine at the beginning of the phase. It takes about 30 days to reset your sleep cycle.

The moment you fix your sleep you'll immediately see improvements in everything else you do.

I use sleep data from my inexpensive Huwai band. I won’t say it’s accurate but still gives you some insights.

Get you supplements: Let's now talk about the controversial part. The moment I use the word supplement people start jumping up and down!

Please understand supplements are not steroids. These are nutritional elements found in food, but not in enough quantity.    

I use the following supplements for alertness, sleep, and recovery.

Caffeine: Guess, this needs no introduction. However, I take it in the morning in the form of Caffeine Tablets. Saves me time and I can't make the excuse of too lazy to get up and brew.

L- Theanine: Is an amino acid found in green tea. It’s non-addictive and has numerous benefits from treating anxiety, regulating blood pressure, preventing Alzheimer to even cancer drugs. L-Theanine relaxes you but it won't make you sleepy. It works in a synergistic way with Caffeine by preventing Caffeine crash. This combo works best at 2:1 ratio.

I take 200mg of Caffeine combined with 400mg of L-Theanine in the morning and 200mg L-Theanine before sleep.

For the morning, currently I am using Unived Nootro-Peak, which has 2:1 Caffeine- L-Theanine and added Vitamin B6/B12 for better cognition.

Whey Protein: Again, this is something needs no introduction. But try to stick to something with no flavors etc. It's cheaper and generally better for you. Have it as the first thing in morning after your caffeine.

So essentially if you fix your sleep and morning you'll see a lot of improvements in the other areas of life.

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That's it folks for today.

Do leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Do share the post if you found it to be useful.

Just a word of caution: Even Coffee can have side effects if you have a condition. So, do get your health check done before you start with any new routine. Be it exercise, supplement or a new diet.