That heavy feeling on Sunday night. The snooze button on repeat. The slow drag into Monday meetings. We call it “the Monday blues” but underneath it lies something deeper: your brain bracing for stress and lack of meaning.

In this episode, Martin Wolf and Dr. Verena Seibert-Giller explore how our brain’s predictive nature shapes how we feel about Mondays and why motivation crashes when we expect the worst.

They discuss how anticipated stress, low perceived control, and disconnected tasks can turn the start of the week into an emotional and cognitive burden — and more importantly, how to shift it.

Together, they explore:

– Why your brain starts reacting before Monday even begins

– How lack of purpose and vague planning kill motivation

– What predictable stress does to your cognitive performance

– The connection between emotional forecasting and real experience

– How to prime your brain with better Monday cues

This episode is a psychological reframe for anyone who dreads the new workweek with science-backed tools to start your Mondays with more clarity, motivation, and meaning.