Gen X and the Reluctant Art of Surviving Monday

Ah, Monday. For those of us in Generation X (born between the late ‘60s and early ‘80s), Monday is like the unsolicited fax you didn’t know you needed: annoying, irrelevant, and impossible to escape. Yet, we face it. Every. Single. Week. And honestly, we’re over it.

Here’s how we, the masters of sarcasm and tired wisdom, navigate the first day of the workweek.

Step 1: The Wake-Up Struggle: When the Alarm Is Your Worst Enemy

Unlike the younger folks who have gentle wake-up routines involving sunlight and calming music (must be nice), we Gen Xers are jolted awake by the angry beep-beep-beep of an alarm clock. The one that’s been with us since the ’90s and probably still has a sticker from a Bon Jovi concert on it.

You open your eyes, check your phone for “just a minute” (which turns into 30), and then mentally curse the universe for making you exist on Monday. The first thought in your head: How many more Mondays until retirement?

You somehow manage to peel yourself out of bed, fully aware that your back is already sore and you’ve barely moved. You might have even considered taking the day off, but… nah, that would be too easy.

Step 2: Coffee. Or Bust.

Now it’s time to face the real struggle: coffee. Gen X knows the importance of coffee, and we have zero time for any fancy frappuccino with 18 ingredients that take longer to make than our entire commute. We want something strong, quick, and life-saving, someone grab me the IV drip.

You shuffle to the kitchen, grab the most abused mug in the cabinet (the one that says "World's Greatest Mom" - HAH that's not what these kids said last week!), and pour yourself what can only be described as liquid hope. You take your first sip and realize, yes, you are still human. Barely.

But, let’s be real: by this point, you’ve already had two cups and are starting to have a very specific conversation with yourself about your life choices. “I could just move to a cabin in the woods and start making artisanal soap…” It’s a fleeting thought, but still. That cabin life is tempting.

Step 3: The Great Commute

If you’re one of the brave souls who still commutes to the office, congratulations. You’re already 20 minutes late because you spent too much time scrolling through the latest “things you should have learned in the ’90s” reels. You’re listening to the same radio station you’ve been listening to since 1994, Z104, and you can’t help but feel that maybe, just maybe, the DJ has learned a few new quips since the last time you tuned in.

Waiting on this train every day is a nightmare, but honestly, we’ve learned to embrace the slow burn of sitting in our cars checking our whiskers in the mirror. It’s the one place we can zone out and pretend that the rest of the world hasn’t gone completely insane. Your car is the one place where you can belt out a Tom Petty song without judgment.

Step 4: Monday Morning Message (Also Known as Reminders 101)

By the time you get to the office (or turn on your laptop, if you’re working from home, which, let’s be honest, is 50% of the time), the Monday Morning Email Blast is waiting to be sent. Every group sends one. And everyone knows it’s just a game of who can pretend to be excited about work the most, so how will you make yours enticing? Great, I have to be creative now. Need. More. Coffee.

You check the calendar for this week, and—surprise!—Five meetings which are scheduled to be an hour long each. One hour. For people to talk about things that could have been sent in an email. “Can’t we just send out an agenda and hit ‘reply all’?” you think to yourself. But, nope. We’re here for synergy and goal alignment—which, as a Gen Xer, you know is organizational speak for let’s waste time and look like we’re being productive.

You practice your smile and nod along act, adding that reminder of positive engagement to your mental list of things you’ll ignore until someone tells you your RBF is on, and go about your weekly planning business.

Step 5: The Midday Slump (A.K.A. The “I’m Not Getting Paid Enough for This” Moment)

By lunchtime, you’re exhausted. Why? Because it’s Monday, and everything just feels harder on Mondays. You eat a stale donut you found in your desk while catching up on emails you’ve been ignoring since Thursday. Wait, did I take that bite out of it or do we have mice in the office again? Better distract myself and go looking for droppings, then forget what I was doing and start cleaning out the storage room. You finally remember, oh-Emails!- and head back to your desk. Where is that donut? Did I eat it? I can't even remember.

You think about how your body isn’t what it used to be. You used to be able to bounce back after a long weekend of binging TV shows and eating snacks. Now, a simple 1pm meeting feels like it’s about to be the undoing of your entire existence.

You sit there, sipping your coffee (again), and wondering if you’ve made a grave error in life by continuing to work. But you can’t stop now. You’ve already committed to the day, and you’ve only got four more hours until you can escape to your parents house for a marathon of what will feel like your only real achievements of the day, caregiving.

Step 6: The End of the Day: “I Survived. Barely.”

Finally, 5 PM arrives, and you’ve made it through the day. Sure, you didn’t accomplish everything you wanted. Sure, you’re questioning every decision you’ve made since 1995. But you did it. You survived.

You try to power off your computer seeking the same sense of relief you get after shutting off a bad horror movie, then realize the IT team hasn't run the backup yet. Better leave it on. You silence notifications so you don't have to hear any more dings tonight. As you end the day, you try to focus on the silver lining. Sure, the workweek is just beginning, but for the next few hours, you’re free to report to your next job, the one that's waiting for you...grumpy and hungry at home. You can't wait for Tuesday, to be back doing it all over again.

So, Gen X, here’s to us: the ones who survived dial-up internet, the boombox, and VHS tapes, and now survive Monday with the same tired sarcasm and a caffeine addiction that’s just strong enough to get us through the day, and the bitterness to carry us through the rest of the week. Cheers [splashes coffee on face]!