My favourite day is Sunday. Maybe it’s because I worked almost every Sunday for a good five years, now when I don’t have to work it still feels a bit like I’m sneaking the day off.

Fridays are obviously fantastic. Although that feeling is amplified on a Thursday if I’ve worked the previous weekend and am staring down the barrel of three days off.

Saturdays have many things going for them, but the feeling of freedom is dampened for me by the ominous thud of a pile of newspapers the size of a house that sometimes sit there all weekend guilting me about the fact I never open the Arts section. And then there’s Tuesday. Blue Tuesday.

A British survey has found Mondayitis is not nearly as bad as Tuesday blues.

22,000 people used an iPhone app to record their moods and the results showed Tuesday was a bummer.

It makes sense.

George MacKerron, a PhD student at the London School of Economics who started the project, told London’s Daily Telegraph: “It seems plausible that on Monday the weekend has not quite worn off. By Tuesday they are well into the working week and the following weekend is not yet in sight.”

It’s like there’s nothing to look forward to on a Tuesday, unless you’re in to slightly cheaper movie tickets. It’s not even Wednesday, hump day, when there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Sarah Wilson, who explores the pursuit of well being and happiness on her blog here, says for a lot of people Sundays are the worst because we put too much pressure on the day to be too many things.

I’d say Sundays are saddest. I’ve written a post on this:  The gist: it’s the day before school and work starts back….which is heart-sinky.

But these days, this grim feeling is exasperated by the fact that we now treat Sundays as catch-up days. So many people I know get on the email around 4pm and trawl through the back-log of unopened messages, trying to get on top of things before the onslaught of the week. Or they go into the office after lunch.

They might have a nice morning with family or friends, but there’s that dread that hangs over… ALL OF WHICH is made even worse by the fact that Sundays are meant to be a day of rest. The fact we are denied this leaves us feeling so very resentful and ...sad.

So my list might be a bit off - but from best to least-best (let’s be positive) it goes:

Sunday, Friday, Thursday, Saturday, Wednesday, Monday, Tuesday.

What’s yours.

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32 comments

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    • Richard Tuffin says:

      07:09am | 12/10/10

      For me, Sunday night’s a shocker with the dread of the week to come as mentioned in your article - it’s just so damn depressing.

      And Monday morning is, well, Monday morning - in terms of actual days at work, it’s hard to get much worse than that.

      Best day - Friday is a very busy day for us at work but it still feels good with the prospect of an aftwerwork “Bevvy” (beverage) with friends always something to look forward to.

      Thursday arvo / evening can be pretty good as well as looking forward to Friday is almost as good as looking forward to Saturday.

      But Saturday morning, when there’s nowhere me or my family has to be and we can mosey on up to the shops for fresh bread, fresh coffee and Saturday papers (which we’re lucky enough to be able to enjoy!) - how can you top that?

    • Macca says:

      07:19am | 12/10/10

      Friday - Saturday - Sunday - Monday - Wednesday - Tuesday - Thursday

      Friday is always filled with satisfaction at finishing off things for the week. Sure, you may not get away at 4pm like you hoped and are still sitting there at 530, but the joy of finishing that last piece before Monday / Saturday’s deadline is euphoric. Plus it is followed by Beer which is also wonderful.

      Saturday and Sunday speak for themselves, Saturday wins because it is less likely to be coupled with a hangover and dread for tomorrow / natural light.

      Monday is an opportunity to get back into things and always nice to share the weekend firvolities with the office.

      Tuesday and Wednesday are always a bit of a slog. Thursday comes last as it is late night shopping which is stressful, you know your deadlines are coming, so it is stressful, and the part-timers aren’t in tomorrow, so you feel like punching them in the face… because you are stressed.

    • Julia says:

      11:24am | 12/10/10

      Funny, I know what you mean re part-timers. smile

    • Old Salt says:

      08:24am | 12/10/10

      Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun, Wed, Tue, Mon.  Although Monday is last is still isn’t that bad, it seems to go quick because there is so much work to do!  Love Thu because you only have one day to go to the weekend and most Fridays aren’t too stressful at work, plus we can knock off about 4pm!!!

    • ej says:

      09:19am | 12/10/10

      I agree with you exactly!

    • Tails says:

      08:49am | 12/10/10

      Tuesday is the get stuff done day. It’s also the day you’re most likely to have a 4 hour meeting smack bang in the middle of the day. Then you go to make a coffee and there’s only International Roast, and go to the bathroom to find they’ve started stocking 1-ply toilet paper. That’s why Tuesday sucks.

    • Bucky says:

      09:03am | 12/10/10

      Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are OK days and I like Thursday, Friday and Saturday too. Oh yes and Sunday.

    • Yon Toad says:

      09:23am | 12/10/10

      Yesterday…

    • George says:

      09:23am | 12/10/10

      Tuesdays, because all the little people are working away in their cubicles leaving more room for me to recreate or shop. Weekends are the best time for working too.

    • Sam Chowder says:

      09:24am | 12/10/10

      Tuesday is my favorite day, it reminds me of Pancakes with maple syrup.

    • Zeta says:

      10:09am | 12/10/10

      I have a theory that people feeling gloomy on a Tuesday is due to the proliferation of cheap cocaine - if one were to go out and get wankered on California corn flakes on a Saturday night, the combination of liquor and benzoylecgonine in the cocaine would form cocaethylene in the liver, which wouldn’t completely metabolise for 48 hours.

    • Reg says:

      10:33am | 12/10/10

      Think yourself lucky Zeta, Amiodarone has a half-life of six months, stuffs your Thyroid and gives you Pulmonary fibrosis in a week. Where can I get some of this harmless cocaine you chew, smoke, drink or sprinkle? Does it go with corned beef and white onion sauce?

    • bella starkey says:

      11:16am | 12/10/10

      You must be rich or something Zeta.

    • Zeta says:

      12:26pm | 12/10/10

      Wait wait wait… I didn’t say I use cocaine. I think cocaine is a pedestrian, middle class drug for self-congratulatory suburban house wives, bogans, wannabe celebrities and miscreants.

      I’m just saying that people who do fill out surveys on such feckless issues as ‘what’s your least favourite day’ are probably wankers, and thus probably do cocaine. If someone calls me and says ‘Zeta, would you mind sharing your thoughts on your favourite day of the week’ I’d be all like ‘hell no’, then I’d hang up on them, and get back to watching re-runs of Hogans Heroes while doing ungodly amounts of smack.

    • Reg says:

      10:23am | 12/10/10

      The days don’t have names for the retired. They’re a square on the calendar and a pox on those calendars that shift everything one square to the left. Wednesday is supposed to be the middle of the week if I remember correctly. Now it’s Thursday. So a Friday drink now becomes a Saturday drink. No wonder no-one turns up.

    • fairsfair says:

      10:50am | 12/10/10

      Saturday afternoons. I have had my sleep in, probably achieved little for the greater part of the day - the imminent social function of that evening and the knowlege that you can again sleep in the next day has me walking on sunshine.

      It all comes crashing down on Sunday nights though.

      I also like Thursdays for the same reasons as Old Salt smile You seem to get your second wind on a Thursday…

    • Kate says:

      04:35pm | 12/10/10

      This is pretty much what I was going to say! There’s something great about Saturday afternoons - you’ve already having a bit of time to do what you like (ie sleep in, socialise, get some jobs done), and have the knowledge that you’ve got another whole day to do the same!

    • Glenz says:

      11:17am | 12/10/10

      Any day Tory appears on Sky News is my favourite day of the week.

    • stephen says:

      12:32pm | 12/10/10

      No-one gets paid on a Tuesday. That’s why.

    • MC says:

      12:36pm | 12/10/10

      I have long held the belief that Tuesday is the worst day of the week. Many of my colleagues would be able to recite my reasoning, verbatim, having been subjected to it so often.
      Monday’s are good because you can talk about the weekend.
      We’ll get back to Tuesday…
      Wednesday is hump day and trivia night at the local pub.
      Thursday is obviously the day before Friday - countdown!
      Friday is well, Friday - hurrah.
      Saturday and Sunday = no work, therefore good - and incidentally, Saturday is the best day.
      Tuesday’s are just rubbish - there’s no more talking about the weekend, no looking forward to the next one. Also - “traumatic” things have happened to me on Tuesday’s - my first day at pre-school, I was born on a Tuesday, we always went back to school after the holidays following Pupil-Free Monday. Ergo - Tuesday’s are the worst…

    • Hendo says:

      02:04pm | 12/10/10

      I have been reciting this reasoning to coworkers who complain about Mondays for YEARS!!! -  although without the added traumatic things that happen on Tuesdays (I will admit that whenever something crap happens to me on a Tuesday, I am much more likely to notice and attribute that to it being Tuesday).

    • Reg says:

      02:52pm | 12/10/10

      I always found that Tuesday was the day to tackle a serious problem after the disruptions of the week-end. The prospect of a series of uninterrupted days meant that I could fix everything up by Friday and have that well deserved Friday drink.  Tuesday is the best day of the week for this reason.

    • Kathleen Murray says:

      01:04pm | 12/10/10

      Saturday because it is the Sabbath a day of rest and remembering the One who created us   Just love the Sabbath

    • Jeeves says:

      03:47pm | 12/10/10

      ........ Black Sabbath created us?

    • mary wide bay says:

      08:57pm | 12/10/10

      Me too Kath.

    • Max Power says:

      01:11pm | 12/10/10

      I like Fridays. The reason being, every Friday the Labor party release a report, finding, statement etc, at around 4pm because they want to try sneek it through under the radar. Every Friday I look forward to seeing what little nasty they are trying and sneek through this time.

    • Reg says:

      03:04pm | 12/10/10

      Hey Max that’s a management ruse. Send the staff member a memo at 5pm on Friday telling him to be in your office at 9am on Monday. The poor bastard is a wreck by the time Monday comes around. I’ve seen them do the same to some poor bastard on the day he goes on two weeks leave.

      A good ploy is to inform personnel that you will not be responding to any requests that arrive after 4pm.

    • Kelly says:

      03:14pm | 12/10/10

      Groan. There’s always some stooge interrupting a fun discussion with a tedious political axe to grind. 
      Here’s something that may shock you Max - all political parties do it (gasp!). As do companies (gasp!). Expand your mind and check websites for media releases around 5pm on the Sunday on a long weekend. Bing bang boom ... they’re offshoring jobs, raising prices, getting rid of cringe worthy CEOs, etc etc.

    • ChelseaLee says:

      04:15pm | 12/10/10

      1. Saturday - sleep ins, pancakes, bacon, maple syrup, freedom, perfection.
      2. Sunday - sleep ins, pancakes, bacon, maple syrup, freedom, perfection until 4pm when you get smacked in the face by the ‘Monday is a mofo and it’s only a few hours away’ stick.
      3. Friday - waiting in eager anticipation for Saturday, wearing jeans to work. Yep.
      4. Thursday -  waiting in eager anticipation for Friday, late nights are acceptable because the following day is so close to Saturday when the aforementioned sleep ins occur.
      5. Wednesday - almost at Thurday.
      6. Tuesday - almost at Wednesday.
      7. Monday - mofo.

    • Kezzstar says:

      05:38pm | 12/10/10

      FRIDAY!  I love that feeling you get when you walk out of work on a Friday afternoon! I even have two Friday songs that I HAVE to listen to on the way out of work on Friday.  Plus on Friday I get to pick my dog up from my parents place for the weekend (shared custody LOL).

    • Missy Moo says:

      01:03am | 13/10/10

      Best to worst Id have to say is Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday. Tuesday, Monday.

      Friday is the shiz, 1230 knock off….who doesnt love that. Saturday because of the wonderful sleep in and the stress free day that is ahead. Sunday that last day of relaxation weekends are made for things you cant do during the work day (arvo naps coffee in the sunshine and reading a book on the balcony with a good glass of wine) Next is Wednesday, because its hump day and the working week is nearly over,  Thursday is the wind down day but also one of the busiest, usually when the worst cases of the CBF’s come in.

      Tuesday is one of the least favourites everyone is tired getting back into the work routine from the weekend and everyone is usually a tad cranky. Monday just sucks cos you know there is 4 days to go to till an early knock off and another awesome weekend.

    • deb says:

      07:37am | 13/10/10

      this is the first time i have sat and read the comments thru and had a ball.wonderful,and all because of tuesday?who is tuesday?

 

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