The Case for Casual Mondays

If you had to guess what day of the work week is most despised, what day would that be?

Garfield knows. It's Mondays. I firmly believe this without having any supporting documentation whatsoever.

If you had to guess which day of the work week is most appreciated, what day would that be?

Friday. Again, no support, but I bet we could take a survey and prove that I am right.

What day of the week is usually "Casual Day" at work?

Friday again...which begs the next question.

Why do we enhance the greatest day of the work week by allowing employees to dress casually, while we allow Mondays to be mundane?

I don't know. I just don't know. The concept of Casual Friday as an employee benefit has taken hold and many companies have gone with it. I am a fan of Casual Friday, but really, I am a fan of Casual Any Day.

Some companies have embraced the "Casual Any/Every Day" philosophy (the joke is that Google's Dress Code is: wear clothes), but other companies believe that much of business is about impression. These companies want to present an image of professionalism and need employees to dress in a manner that reflects well on the company.

Enter the commonly accepted business practice of Casual Fridays. Many companies that need to reflect a professional environment have recognized the benefits of Casual Fridays. These benefits include improved morale at no cost (employees feel comfortable), monetary savings for employees (suits, dry cleaning costs are reduced), and a sense of unity (less visible pecking order).

Whatever the reasons, Casual Friday is fairly common these days, and I am pro-that.

However, I am proposing a swift and orderly change. Fridays are already great. Let's go with Casual Mondays. Call it socialism for days of the week, I just don't care. It is time we fixed the inequity.

Seriously, think about it. You wake up on Monday morning tired and struggling to overcome the inertia from the weekend. You have to shower, shave (perhaps), pull out your business attire, make sure it is ironed, make sure you look nice and professional, then go to work and start the drudgery.

What if you could at least skip the suit part and instead put on some comfy jeans and ease your way into your work week?

Man, oh, man, would that be sweet.

When I worked in an office, I would often go into work on Sunday, work for maybe 3 or 4 hours, accomplish the same amount of work I would in a regular 8-hour day, but I would be comfortable, in jeans, t-shirt and a hat. When I came in on the following Monday there was much less inertia to overcome because I had already started my work week. Not everyone can (or cares to) give their employer 3 or 4 hours of their Sunday to make their Monday easier, and I have a solution that just might work.

I argue that there is more business sense in Casual Monday than there is in Casual Friday. Personally, I already feel good about a Friday. Generally speaking, on Friday I am thinking of "quittin time" and considering my weekend plans. Being in jeans only exacerbates this condition. It is a light case of "senior-itis," that unfortunate disability that causes many seniors to finish their education poorly. Without the external cues reminding us that we are in the workplace (specifically, business attire), the likely result is a flare-up of"senior-itis," equaling less productive employees.

Mondays, on the other hand are full of reminders of our tasks at hand, coupled with memories of the fun, relaxing weekend to taunt us. Looking at an inbox full of emails, countless voice-mail messages, projects with deadlines approaching, meetings, and whatever "to-do" items we have yet "to do" can be overwhelming. Just writing that makes me want to crawl back into my weekend.

By allowing employees to dress casually on Mondays, employers can keep the benefits of Casual Friday (i.e. improved morale, etc.) while minimizing the detriments (i.e. "senior-itis"). I know this is revolutionary thinking, but I think it is time we take the sting out of the weekend's taunts with a nice comfortable, casual Monday. Ease into the week, I say. If we cannot reduce the amount of work we have to do for the week, then at least we can start tackling it while in comfy attire!