Monday Rhythm

(Central Park musicians, NYC, Road trip-June 2010)

At long last I have realized that sometimes, Mondays just plain stink. For whatever reason that may be, I have come to accept that pretending otherwise doesn't make it much better. Lately I have had to employ coping strategies that I use for "morning/evening person" life in regards to Mondays.

I am not a morning person. I'm not necessarily crabby, per say, unless you try to wake me up with a loud cheery voice sing-songing "Rise and Shine sleepyhead!" Then I want to punch you in the face. Just let me wake up to my subtle phone alarm. At that point you can speak in a normal, human voice (I highly suspect morning people are quite another species.) I don't need coffee or two hours without speaking to snap out of my sleep stupor, but if you let me go to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth before having a conversation, I will be decidedly awake and more cheery after the dash of water and minty freshness.

Mornings are not as productive a time as later evenings between 7:00 and 11:30. After 15 years, I have tried to conform to the morning-centered modus operandi that the world seems to swirl around in regards to optimum productivity time. Without fail, I get more done and am more creative at certain periods of the afternoon and the aforementioned evening times. Waking up for middle school and high school before 7am was torture, especially with the added suggestion from well meaning youth directors that "having my quiet time" (ie: reading my Bible and praying) in the morning when one wakes up is the best time, nearly more spiritual time, to sit with God. I hope God didn't mind me dozing off mid-conversation all those mornings. Because I hardly remembered what passage I read, let alone felt spiritually connected, I decided to do the logical thing and read my Bible at night, when I was alert.

I did other things to accommodate my natural rhythm:

1. I do not exercise in the morning before 10am. I prefer to exercise at night or at 11am.
2. When I write stories or on my blog, it is always in the later afternoon or early evening.
3. When I paint or sew or do anything tactile artist related, I usually work on my projects in late evening
4. If I have a choice to go to work in the morning or afternoon, I choose afternoon. Or, I make sure to do the physical work in the morning and mental work in the afternoon such as the time I chose to do my horse farm job (alone, physical labor) in the morning starting at 6:00am and then go to the Genomics lab (precise thinking, people interactions).
5. The things I always do in the morning- clean my house or do garden work.

In a similar way, to alleviate the Monday blues, I try to sleep well enough the night before, wear comfy clothes to work on Monday, and at least pretend to prepare a lunch in advance to bring to work. I fail at that often. I wear my glasses more often on Mondays and Thursdays, because I am most tired those days. Today I brought a funny book to read at my desk and I normally don't plan to take care of personal business, bills,emails or other tedious tasks on Monday unless unavoidable. I do not clean the house on Mondays, but I often do laundry on Monday nights. I rarely make plans to do anything in the evening unless it is low key and pleasant. I often unconsciously do these things to put less pressure on the day that feels already swamped with a new week's beginning list of To-Dos.

It sounds like I have parameter upon dizzying parameter, but I hardly think of the process because I have learned to listen to the rhythm of a day and not put so much pressure on it or on myself to conform to mine or anyone else's expectation of what a morning or day "should" carry.

So this Monday, pet your guinea pig, or clean his cage. Read your Bible in mid afternoon, half-past 11am, or 5:30am. Leave the dishes in the sink and go snog your husband for a few hours. Pay bills, or leave them for Tuesday when you're more ready to approach them. Have a quiet reading time with your kids or jump around on the furniture or help them with their homework. Read funny blog posts written by a friend or catch up on another friend's site Check your favorite intelligent and consistently decent Childfree blog and remind yourself, like I am reminding myself right now, how much less stressful Mondays and mornings are without children in the house. Slow and quiet or frenetic, whatever you decide to do or not do, have it match the rhythm of the day.