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title: Are Mondays Really That Bad?
description: Bad stuff does consistently happen on Mondays. Stock market returns are lower, suicides are higher and more people call sexually transmitted disease hotlines: The so-called...
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# Are Mondays Really That Bad?

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by 

[Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/)


## Eric Barker


Mar 31, 2014 4:01 AM UTC

by 

[Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/)


## Eric Barker


Mar 31, 2014 4:01 AM UTC

Bad stuff does consistently happen on Mondays. Stock market returns are lower, suicides are higher and more people call sexually transmitted disease hotlines:

---

> “”

---

**Source: “Just Another Manic Monday: Peaking Sexual Concerns After the Weekend” from Arch Sex Behav (2011) 40:1105–1106**

Funny thing is, Mondays aren’t that bad in terms of our mood.

In his bestselling book [Stumbling on Happiness](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400077427/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=1400077427), Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert points to research showing we overestimate how unhappy Mondays make us:

---

> “”

---

And traffic isn’t worse on Mondays. [Tim Harford](http://timharford.com/2010/01/why-are-traffic-jams-so-bad-on-mondays/) does the research and shows it’s generally much lighter than Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday:

---

> “”

---


So why do we still not like Mondays? Because we’re focused on how we _predict_ we’ll feel, not how we actually feel in the moment:

---

> “”

---


**Source: “(Tell me why) I don’t like Mondays: Does an overvaluation of future discretionary time underlie reported weekly mood cycles?” from “Cognition & Emotion”**

**Join 45K+ readers.** Get a free weekly update via email [here](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD).

Related posts:

[What’s the secret to making your weekends more enjoyable?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-the-secret-to-making-your-weekends-more)

[7 tips to make the workweek easier](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/7-tips-to-make-the-workweek-easier)

[Which is more likely to kill you: being admitted to the hospital on Sunday or Monday?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/which-is-more-likely-to-kill-you-being-admitt)

_This piece originally appeared on_ [_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/)_._

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