Let's Talk About...What Day It Is

Ok. I bet at some point on Labor Day you said, "It feels like a Sunday, doesn't it?" That happens all the time. And then Tuesday feels like a Monday and Wednesday feels like a Tuesday and so it goes, messing up your whole week.

Except it isn't just Labor Day that might confuse your routine. Often a Saturday feels like Sunday and if Friday is a holiday, it can feel like a Saturday. The good news in that case is that you get two Saturdays in a row.

First, let's address the obvious - days are just days. What it "feels like" is the pattern you tend to have on certain days of the week. And people like patterns.

Every day consists of the same orbit around the sun. It is what you typically do on each day that marks them as a Monday or Tuesday.

For example, you might sleep in on a Saturday morning or watch "The Today Show" on Tuesdays or go out to dinner on Fridays.

So, if Labor Day felt like a Sunday to you, it was probably because you were doing Sunday things like staying home, going to the movies, relaxing, or taking a hike. As pleasant as Sundays can be, they are also often marred by the anticipation of Monday. That deep dread starts at about noon and continues all day, delaying bedtime by just a few more minutes to put off Monday for just a little longer.

Each day of the week has a character of its own.

That makes sense.

What doesn't make sense is what happened to me last week.

It was Wednesday. I knew it was a Wednesday. I did all my normal Wednesday things. For some reason, however, I thought it was Thursday all day. You might wonder what the difference is between my Wednesday and Thursday. They are not as different from each other as, say, Saturday and Monday, right? Right. But I still like to keep them straight.

What happened to me was that in addition to doing all of my normal Wednesday things on Wednesday, I did a lot of my Thursday things on Wednesday. For example, since my cleaning ladies come on Friday, I usually pick up all the clutter around the house on Thursday. I finish the ironing so I can put the ironing board away. I get out a fresh set of sheets and towels. That kind of thing.

I did all that. And then realized it was still Wednesday. I shook my head, made a joke about it and forgot about it. Until Thursday came.

On Thursday, a friend of mine asked me, "Do you want to have lunch tomorrow?" I replied, "You want to go to lunch on a Saturday?"

She looked at me like I was crazy. "Tomorrow is Friday!"

I knew that. Clearly my brain hadn't registered my error the day before.

Undoubtedly my friend suspected early-onset dementia. Especially after I told her about my mistaking Wednesday for Thursday. But I don't think that was it.

Instead, it was a matter of early-onset anticipation.

By the time Friday rolled around, I was back to normal. Of course, that lasted until Labor Day, a Monday that felt like a Sunday.

When we know what day of the week it is in our minds but act and "feel" like it is another, we realize how much we are truly creatures of habit. Do we have hard-wired Pavlovian responses to our sense of the day? Just because I am working doesn't mean it is a weekday at all. Similarly, just because it is light outside doesn't mean it is daytime. Just ask those people living in Alaska.

We all like some structure in our schedule but we all can agree a holiday break is welcome even if it throws off our routine.