If Sunday evening fills you with dread and you drag your heels on the Monday morning commute, the time has come to make changes. Find out how to motivate yourself to manage Monday with ease.

Who hasn’t suffered from that Monday blues feeling? Occasional feelings of ‘not wanting to go to work’ are part and parcel of any career but when it keeps happening, it is time to take steps to banish it all together.

If the relief of Friday and the weekend seem to pass too quickly, it could be time to make some changes and here’s how…

#1 Identify what the REAL problem is

Known as self-analysis you need to determine if the Monday blues is an occasional thing linked to certain temporary issues at work or whether it is symptomatic of a bigger problem.

For many, the dread of work after the weekend comes with being bored, something we associate with not having enough to do. But it is also a sign of being too busy as well.

There are also times when work activities are monotonous, a ‘must-do’ to achieve the larger picture and we all have parts of our jobs that we don’t like doing.

In some cases, understanding how to stay motivated is key to a successful and enjoyable day at the office but if, after really examining the problem you come to the conclusion the problem is not lack of motivation or boredom, you need to start thinking about what changes you could and will make.

#2 Pros & Cons, Strengths & Weaknesses…

If you know that deep-down, the Monday blues are all about the fact that you are no longer like what you do, you may decide the time is right to act.

But before you leap, you need to complete the important step of self-analysis, the skill of objective scrutiny.

Of course, the Monday Blues doesn’t mean finding a new job necessarily;

Plan A – I LOVE my job but…

If you enjoy your work maybe you have become stuck in a rut where you are doing the same thing. You don’t learn in your comfort zone but on the fringes of it.

Ask yourself is it time to make a move sideways or look for a promotion? Start by listing what you love about your job and what you are not so keen on. With the second column, look at how you could change the ‘not so keen’ on items.

For example, if you hate the morning and evening commute, could you change your working hours or work partly from home?

Plan B – I HATE my job but…

Hate is a pretty strong word but if you are clearly dissatisfied it may not just be your job, but the industry you are in.

Nothing is achieved by doing the same thing over and over and so, with a blank sheet of paper and a pen, write down what you would love to do.

Your ideas may sound implausible now – be a self-employed beauty technician or be a forensic scientist – and completely different from your current skill set but making a career change can be done. And it has been done by thousands of people!

Exercise caution, however. You have rent or mortgage to pay and bills with your name written all over them so if you are serious about changing careers and upskilling yourself, have a strategy.

Going to college is one option but you can also upskill with home study courses, a great way of getting back into the habit of studying as well as gaining qualifications that could be life-changing.

#3 Are you REALLY disengaging from work?

There are people out there who simply love what they do and can’t imagine ever doing anything else or wanting to do anything else.

And yet, the Sunday evening dread grips them in its vice-like features on a regular basis with their arrival back at their workstation on Monday morning made with heavy footsteps.

The answer may be simpler than you think. Physically and emotionally disconnecting from work is essential to your well-being and so when your last shift ends, are you shutting the door on work and really taking a step away?

Look at how you spend your weekends or rest days. Are you doing something with them? From enjoying a hobby to socialising with friends, to bracing walks in nature to being mindful about disconnecting from work and not just emails, but emotionally too.

How do you deal with the Monday blues? Did you make a significant career change?

Before the internet, students would trudge to libraries and archives to perform time-consuming searches for information, books and journals. The advent of the Internet has opened up many doors, revolutionising the way we study and research.

But can you trust everything you read on the web? How can you spot when something is not right? And how do you search for information on subjects that are sensitive or restricted without causing a problem for yourself? This guide will give you all the information that you need for effective online research.

  1. Use reputable sources

From newspapers and online magazines to well-authored sites to websites that are dominated by one subject, make sure you pick up information from reputable sites.

For authoritative news reporting, the BBC would be considered an authoritative site by those who verify sources of information. Chat or gossip news sites may not necessarily be so bothered about the facts behind the headlines.

Use websites with domain names that end in .edu or .gov for reputable scholarly articles.

  1. Subscribe to an RSS feed

Really Simple Syndication is a technology that allows subscribers to be notified when new information or articles are posted. RSS is great for news sites, especially if you want to stay updated on a certain topic.

  1. Join a forum or group (or create one!)

There are numerous websites that have associated forums and groups that share information with fellow students. They are a great way of finding new resources, as well as a good place to discuss the latest academic issues with fellow students.

  1. Advanced searches

Sometimes, the actual way that we search online is important for getting the right results. Boolean Logic uses the words ‘and’, ‘or’ and ‘not’ to create search term relationships and narrow down your search results.

  1. Think around the topic

How else can you rephrase or ask the same question? For example, if you are reaching why the dog drooled when Pavlov rang the bell, you could try searching for canine, puppies, drooling dogs, as well as psychology experiments with dogs and animals.

  1. Use different search engines

Not all search engines come up with results in the same way. For example, Google a is a ranking engine, whereas other search engines (such as Yahoo) rank via general content. In other words, despite using the same search terms, you will get different sets of results.

  1. Research browsers

For those students taking research courses, using a browser that is conducive to research is essential. This means that for sensitive subjects and those searches online that could be misconstrued, you will be accessing academic based information, articles and research, rather than uncensored information.

Take a look at the following sites:

Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/

Resource Discovery Network http://www.rdn.ac.uk/

SearchEdu.com http://www.searchedu.com/

Or for books try a Google books search http://books.google.com/

  1. Bookmarks and notes

For anyone conducting research, keeping notes of where you came across your information is essential for citation purposes. Learn how to use the bookmark and folders functions on search engines. Some students keep a running log of which websites they accessed and when.

  1. Ask questions of the research

Why has this person written about this topic? Why have they chosen to publish material to the web? Is there anything for them to gain from doing so?

Just like a police officer or historian questions the evidence before them, when you research information online, you should constantly question the source. This is partly about looking for bias as much as it is about validating the information as genuine or useful.

  1. Customise your search

There are some lesser-known search terms that can be useful in reducing search results making them more useful;

The web is a rich resource for researching anything to do with your course, but always check the source of the information.