Indeed, we have survived Monday, and it’s pleasant news, but much of the week is still on the horizon – that is if we manage to arrive there, as Tuesday often seems endless. Certainly, at this point it should be Thursday, you might tell yourself. In the epic words of The Onion in 2007: “It Only Tuesday.” Saturday seems to be ages away.
Dr. Ruth Ogden is a senior lecturer in psychology at Liverpool John Moores University who studies the human perception of the passage of time. You may have already suspected this or not but Ogden says that one of the main reasons why we are shocked by each Tuesday is largely to do with our feelings about Mondays. “When we’re doing lots of things, when we’re processing lots of information, we feel like more time has passed than normal,” says Ogden. If you are a regular working man or woman, Monday is the most hectic and feared day of the entire week – and typically feels longer, that’s why by the time Tuesday comes rolling in, it’s like… Holy smokes, it’s still Tuesday???
More bad news: Tuesday blues is likely to become worse as we age. Elderly people often say that time passes by more quickly as they get older, so it feels like Christmas comes around more quickly every year. Although this might seem like a good thing, especially if you’re a fan of the holiday’ however, if we associate months of the year with days of the week, then Tuesday would be February, right? So as Christmas and weekends pass by faster and faster, the Februaries and Tuesdays seem to be endless.
What can we do to get out of this dreadful cycle?? Is there a possible way to make the most out of every Tuesday, and perhaps even make it more worthwhile? You might be surprised to hear what the Dr. recommends. The magic word is ‘mindfulness’. “There are some studies that show that performing mindfulness activities is beneficial, as it reduces temporal distortion, or reduces how much we feel subjective time is changing,” Ogden points out. Dr. Ogden recommends relaxation, whatever your means and idea of relaxation may be and to reduce the number of activities you’re performing. and most importantly, breath. Breathe deep and slow.
Maybe what is more viable, however, is the recommendation of Dr. Ogden which involves rebranding Tuesdays. Try planning enjoyable stuff (plans with friends, movie nights, beach days, etc.) and life, in general, will become more relaxing once the weekend arrives. Now we won’t be able to change the fact that there still remain three workdays to complete once the day is over, and the fact that Mondays will still remain dreadful but Tuesdays will always pass by – especially if you manage to make the day something that you look forward to.