There is truth in advertising. Monday Night Football is the lone saving grace of Monday, especially with John Gruden and the Ron “The Polish Rifle” Jaworski as ex-Philadelphia Eagles bookends dominating the booth. This week MNF is that much more awesome because the Philadelphia Eagles will actually be playing. The good news is; you know that game will be on TV. The bad news; if you don’t live in Philadelphia you’re boss may actually expect you to be productive on Tuesday. So while you try to avoid banal conversations about your co-workers’ weekends start mapping out the rest of the week. You’ll need to be careful if you want to keep this week from becoming one long train wreck.

If you didn’t go out yesterday to watch the games then you’re ahead of the game. All you’ll need to do is get the work you normally finish on Tuesday done in the beginning of the week. If you’re like me and ended up going out because you were unusually vested in the Kansas City Chiefs then it could be a bit trickier. You’ll want to consider writing off as much of this week as possible. Tuesday you’ll be beat from Monday night. Wednesday you’ll be preparing for game 1 of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees, which to be honest already has my full attention. Thursday you’ll be tired from Wednesday and will then be waiting for game 2. Finally on Friday you’ll be exhausted from Wednesday and Thursday and it’ll be the day before Halloween. Face it, if you’re not hustling today you’re not going to anything for the rest of the week. Look to have pockets of productivity Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. Given there’s about a 70% chance that Thursday will turn into a Thirsty Thursday, I can’t stress the importance of dropping Friday like it’s hot.

Don’t be tempted by the illusion that having people over will be cheaper and easier that going out. If you believe that then you’re lying to yourself. If you’d like to stay home and watch the game, that’s fine. But don’t think that if you have people over it’ll end up better than if you’d just gone out in the first place. In this economy you can’t guarantee that all of your friends will have work on Tuesday. You’re bound to have one guy that either doesn’t have to work on Tuesday or drinks like he doesn’t. Either way you’ll have someone at your house until at least 2 am and you’re house will be a mess in the morning. Just go to a bar. It doesn’t even need to be your normal Sunday haunt, it just needs to have some TVs. On Mondays every place is going to have specials so, in the long run, going to a bar will save you time and money. In extreme cases I authorize you to go to a corporate bar, but please don’t tell me about it, keep your shame to yourself.

With the Washington Redskins playing as poorly as they have this should be a relatively easy win for the Eagles. Of course, I would have said that last week against the Oakland Raiders. Go out and have fun but make sure to not blow your load too early in the week. There’s a lot of Philly sport to watch this week. Beating yourself up tonight will only cost you more on Thursday.