Why Monday is the most misunderstood day

What’s wrong with the start of the workweek?

An illustration of a woman pulling a bunch of balloons behind her. The balloons each have a letter on them that together spell out "MONDAY". — Image: Paul Blow

Dec 7th 2023

WHEN THE Boomtown Rats, an Irish band, released “I Don’t Like Mondays” in 1979, the song became an instant hit. The inspiration behind it was the Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego that year. The 16-year-old perpetrator listed “not liking Mondays” as her main reason for firing 36 shots, killing two adults and injuring eight children and a police officer. This is not, though, why the song resonated with millions of people around the world; most of them are in all likelihood unaware of its tragic origins. What many do recognise all too well is the difficulty of summoning the energy to get out of bed on Monday mornings in order to face the week ahead.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “What’s wrong with Mondays?”