By Dawn Onley

Mondays can be so rough.

We are forced to shift gears from our casual, weekend mindsets to all of the work assignments and deliverables that need to get done during the week. It can feel so abrupt and overwhelming, leaving us in need of just one more day off.

During one of these tough weekend to Monday-morning shifts two years ago, I began thinking about the work week differently. I wondered what would happen if I started embracing Mondays? What if I started focusing on things that I was actually looking forward to doing during the week rather than a) honing in on the things that I needed to do or b) zoning in on the following weekend?

In order for this to work, I realized that I had to line up some fun things to look forward to doing during the week. Even on Mondays.

When I started setting up things – as random as trying out a new recipe or restaurant, watching a favorite TV show, or getting a fresh pedicure — I began to pack more enjoyment into my week. I found that by focusing on the daily drops of joy, it made some of the more difficult parts of each day more palatable.

For me, this could be virtually anything. The only criteria I set was that it had to be something that I found exciting/fun/educational/uplifting.

For example, these are some of the things I’m looking forward to this week:

• Finishing up The Mothers by Britt Bennett
• Going to the library to check out a new book
• Baking zucchini bread
• Going to visit my brother
• Watching Queen Sugar with my husband
• Early voting
• Early morning walks
• A glass of wine
• Researching fun things to do for an upcoming vacation
• Writing this blog

But in my old way of thinking about the work week, I would have missed the joy in these things because I would have been too focused on checking work items off of my “to do” list. In my new way of thinking, I have found that the work week becomes more enjoyable when we incorporate some personal fun in with our work days.

Is there anything you’re particularly excited about doing today? Tomorrow? This week? If not, you need to get to work adding fun into your weekday schedule.

Let’s bring some thrill back to our week days and recommit ourselves to making every day count. After all, why should the weekends get all of the fun?