From ‘Mondayitis’ to ‘Fundayitis’ yes it is possible to enjoy your work, here’s how to start.

If I was an alien looking down on planet earth, I might make the following observations about life on this strange planet:

“Humans live in a society that has adopted some unusual cultural mind sets. Of significance, the species appears to be infected with a curious case of ‘Mondayitis’ – a pervasive disease that affects the entire working population.”

The prognosis for this disease is poor:

“Humans appear to have no known cure to the perils of working life, except in retirement. They are confined to a life of suffering and hard labour. Temporary relief can only be found in the occasional ‘sick day’ or ‘dream holiday’ overseas.”

Worse still, the onset of the disease is confronting:

“Symptoms of ‘Mondayitis’ first appear to develop on Sunday afternoon. The human experiences a state of ‘blues’, when the individual realizes that a return to work is imminent. The human appears to experience a ‘sense of loss’, ‘depression’ and ‘anxiety’ at the thought of going back to work.”

As much as I joke about this, there is a very serious side to the Monday morning freak out.

We live in a society that believes we must suffer through the working week and that we should be grateful to have a job. We are often told that work is not something to be enjoyed, rather a necessary evil in life, as we simply must survive.

The danger with this mind set is that it can leave you in a state of perpetual suffering, where you feel sick to your very core. You are stuck in a job and workplace that you do not enjoy. Anxiety and depression are frequent visitors to your desk.

As a Psychotherapist and Career Counsellor, I frequently see this with my clients.

Clients are bravely grappling with how to find more meaning, purpose, and freedom in their life. Our aim is to generate creative solutions to meet their financial and family obligations, in a job that feels freeing and enjoyable.

This topic is important to me.

I stayed in an unfulfilling corporate career for almost fourteen years. I was too afraid to leave and did not see a way out. I felt trapped, was depressed and was constantly getting sick. My relationship was a total mess as well.

I eventually found a way out, by connecting to what was important to me, to what I enjoyed doing the most and making what at the time seemed like crazy and irrational decisions.

This path was not easy and I struggled at times, but things eventually improved. My depression lifted to reveal a profound sense of inner freedom and enjoyment in life.

I had to learn how to let go and keep moving towards what I valued the most in life. I had to trust that things would work out and that the inner calling I was feeling was legitimate and that it was safe to act upon it.

The main point that I want to offer you in this article is that ‘Sunday afternoon blues’ or ‘Mondayitis’ is not a normal reality. It’s an artificial belief construct that society has bought into. And there is a way out – it takes work, but you can do it.

Counting down the days until the weekend is not a normal state of affairs.

Experiencing depression and anxiety as your default feeling towards your job is an invitation to transform your working life.

There is no one magic solution.

Change is messy, scary and confronting. However, it is possible to move through the confusion and terror into an authentic sense of freedom and career enjoyment – by doing the things that are important to you and that you genuinely enjoy.

Once you start doing work that you truly like, ‘Sunday afternoon blues’ and ‘Mondayitis’ will largely disappear. This process of gaining freedom does involve intense inner soul searching, brutal self-honesty and action taking. However, you will eventually land in a new direction that is incredibly freeing.

Please take heart that ‘Mondayitis’ is a temporary condition. It does have a cure. You are not doomed to a life of failure and being stuck in a job you dislike.

I will devote a series of articles to exploring how to find direction and make the change into something that you both enjoy and that pays the bills.

In these articles, I will explore how to come up with a new direction; how to trust yourself; and how to move through fear into your new path – free of ‘Mondayitis’.

You can expect a profound sense of inner freedom to come when you move into a direction that you like.

In the meantime, as a first step, I invite you to simply notice how often ‘Sunday afternoon blues’ and ‘Mondayitis’ shows up in your life. Take heart that there is a way through. I believe in you.

If you’d like to get in touch with Daniel email: TeamIQ@interviewiq.com.au or connect on LinkedIn.