Every year at the start of February, a massive game day takes over the United States - we're talkin' football, chicken wings, amazing half time shows - the whole nine yards (literally). Although we all wish it was a national holiday, unfortunately, the only way you are getting to stay home the day after the big game is if you:

A) Put in for a vacation or personal day ahead of time or,

B) Call in sick for “Super Sick Monday”, just like 17 million people did for last year’s big game

The “sickness” that will inevitably overcome you on this Monday may be from a happy hangover from too much celebration of your team winning, or due to wallowing in sadness over your team’s loss. Regardless of why you choose to call out sick, we’ve got you covered with ways to plan your day. Read on for some tips on what you can do to take advantage of your Super Sick Monday, whether your team won or lost.

If Your Team Won

Congrats! You’re a winner! Well, your team is a winner, but we know how people like to act as if their “special jersey” was the difference between the QB throw that winning touchdown or not, and we are here to encourage your nonsensical reasoning. Anyway, you’re happy. We’re happy for you. Now here are a few ways to prolong that happiness during your Monday celebration.

Try Something New That Scares You

Use your newfound winner-mentality and confidence to try something new that you’ve been meaning to get around to but haven’t yet gotten around to. These don’t always have to be something monumental, just something that’ll make a difference in your life and you keep putting off, either for fear of trying or failing. We believe in you! Here are a few ideas.

• Learn to French braid your hair (and get an arm workout in the process). You may think this doesn’t sound too scary, but those teenage YouTubers who already know more about beauty trends than we do at age 30 can be quite intimidating.
• Go skydiving. You know you’ve been wanting to try! What better time to jump out of a plane into the abyss than when you’re already on a high from your team winning?!
• Apply for your dream job. If you’re feeling stuck in your current position, or need some extra motivation to showcase how awesome you are doing for that new promotion, use today to research, revamp your resume, and put together some great talking points to feel confident enough to tackle your dreams!

Join a Local Sports Team

Kickball, softball, flag football…whatever your sport of choice is, become a member of a local team to go win your own games! Since you have such great taste in NFL winners, perhaps you can extend that into your real life athleticism. (Or, ya know, just do your best).

Use As Many Synonyms of Winner as Possible

It’s your day to boast! Look up some synonyms of the words “win” or “winner,” and keep track of how many you can use throughout the day. Here are a few to get you started:

• Champion
• Conqueror
• Victor (Props to you if your name is Victor, this one will be easy for you)
• Top Dog
• Number One
• Hero

Take a Mini Day-Trip Somewhere New

This day calls for some fun; look up somewhere within 1–2 hours of where you live that you haven’t been before to go visit today. Search “things to today in [City]” and see what comes up! If you really want to be surprised, close your eyes and point to something suggested on the list. Drag along your significant other or buddy to come with you — they’ll have to be “sick” today, too.

If Your Team Lost

So the team you were rooting for let you down. Sorry that this probably wasn’t the first time and won’t be the last time in your life for disappointment (C’mon, you see the disappointment on your parents’ faces every time you come home for the holidays still without a grandchild for them). But hey — sometimes you have to overcome in order to become better! Here are some ways you can spend your day and overcome yesterday’s grief.

Use That Hurt to Fuel Your Goals

Doing something productive might be the last thing on your mind today, but you can use that feeling of hopelessness to be hopeful again! Just because your football team lost doesn’t mean that you can’t start working on something for yourself to feel good! There’s a lot of things you can try to do to make yourself feel accomplished today:

• Join a workout class at your gym. The group mentality aids in pushing you to work harder than you might otherwise. And if nothing else, at least you know you’re all suffering together.
• File your taxes. Now this may not sound super appealing to do, but why not get a head start?! You’ll feel better when everyone else is stressing come April.
• Checkout a new book at the library. Trying to read more this year? You have the free time to do it today! Head to your local library and peruse the shelves for something up your alley. This activity is free and will make you feel better. Win-win!

Start Some Early Spring Cleaning

Sure, the first official day of spring is over a month away, but you can get a jump-start by tossing those LOSERS’ football jerseys that you own. Kidding, kidding! But really, although Marie Kondo isn’t ruling the world like she was this time last year, you can still find those “Tidying Up” episodes and get some motivation…or get lost into the black hole that is Netflix and watch The Office for the 186th time.

Create the Perfect Breakfast Waffle

Nothing can cure the loss and grief that you’re feeling today like a great start to your day with a fancy and delicious breakfast. Break out that buried Belgian waffle maker and get to work! Spruce it up by adding fun fillings or flavors into your waffles. Some ideas are cinnamon, vanilla extract, or chocolate chips. Now for the toppings. Apples, bananas, strawberries, brown sugar, whipped cream…the possibilities are endless! Heck, you can throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top if you’re really feeling crazy. You’re an adult, and the world is your oyster (or waffle).

Write a Haiku

There is no better time for creativity and making magic than when you’re feeling a bit blue (we’re looking at you, Adele). Take a crack at writing a few haikus, which is a form of poetry in three sentences with each being 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables. Let out your feelings, such as in our emotion-packed example below:

I’m sad my team lost.

But pizza makes me happy.

I’ll eat some pizza.

Become Your Own Winner…of Planning

What are you waiting for? Get after it!

Just because you may not be going to work today doesn’t mean that you can’t get some work done. Here are some tips to stay focused and feel accomplished during your Super Sick Monday.

• Set an alarm. You may want to sleep until whatever hours of the day, but try to keep it reasonable. If you sleep half of your day away, you won’t be able to get as many things done!
• Schedule blocks of time for activities. Give yourself time chunks to plan out what you want to do to minimize procrastination and disruptive multi-tasking. If you sprinkle some break times in there, you’ll be able to stay in the moment of what you’re doing while looking ahead of what’s to come in your day.
• Reward yourself! Once you check some things off of your to-do list, you can incorporate a little “prize” for yourself as a job well done. This will motivate you to get through your list without as much complaining.

No matter how you choose to spend your day after the big game, you can plan it out in your Rocketbook notebook. Now that’s a way to feel like a winner no matter what!