"I struggle for over half an hour to force myself to get up on Monday morning," said Tracy Yun. "Everything in my eyes seems grey, the crowded subway and the boss's face."

Another white-collar worker, Michael Yu, said: "Monday is the worst day of the week - work efficiency is much lower than other days. I wonder why employees seem quite tired and absent-minded."

The "Monday blues" hit people as they revert to a more normal pattern from the free weekend. Here are the symptoms:

Fatigue

After relaxation over the weekend, people ought to feel refreshed in body and spirit, but some feel even more tired out than on Friday. The main cause is that they have not been resting properly and have been working too hard.

Some leave all the housework until Saturday; some go crazy shopping; some watch videos, surf the Internet or bar-hop late into the night; some travel a long way away from the city and return with tired bodies.

On the other hand, some people do nothing but stay at home and sleep.

"Most of my weekend is spent in bed: I hope to make up for all the lost sleep during the week," said Zhou Nan.

But people are not able to save sleep like a camel saves water. Oversleeping is not good for the health - it interrupts normal circadian rhythms and can cause headaches and a poor appetite.

Digestive ailments,

A doctor at Shuguang Hospital said: "The number of out-patients increases 10 to 20 per cent on Monday because of too much food and drink over the weekend." .

Friday evening to Sunday night is a golden time for the dining industry, since that is the time people unwind from intensive, hard work by enjoying delicious food and drink.

Some people ignore regular dining habits completely over the two days, and one of my friends once ate 14 bags of potato chips but nothing else on the weekend.

"More nutritious food is good but never too much," said nutritionist Shi Meiqing. "Drinking and smoking should be controlled."

Low spirits

When the happiness and excitement of the weekend fade away, people feel unreasonably lost and empty, so they may be dispirited, lazy, inattentive or even positively resistant to work.

Some people may have serious anxiety and nervousness as they contemplate the coming pressures of work.

Psychologists recommend that people warm up for the busy weekday by doing early work on Sunday - something related to work such as reading books and making plans to help to prepare.

Health experts say positive self-talk can cheer people up for work. They recommend taking deep, relaxing breaths when people start experiencing negative thoughts associated with returning to work.

(Shanghai Star March 14, 2002)