Wait... What Actually IS the First Day of the Week?

It's Monday. Your alarm just betrayed you, your coffee hasn't kicked in yet, and you're mentally preparing for another five days of pretending to know what's going on.

Which raises an important question: Is Monday actually the start of the week?

Apparently, not everyone agrees.

A new poll found that 54% of Americans consider Monday the first day of the week, while 45% say it's Sunday. Another 1% chose "some other day," which feels like the kind of answer you'd give after losing track of time during a long weekend.

Outside the United States, the results weren't even close. A whopping 86% of people said Monday is the official start of the week, while just 14% picked Sunday.

The confusion might come down to calendars. In Canada and the U.S., many calendars start with Sunday, which makes it look like the beginning of the week. But culturally, most of us treat Monday like the true starting line.

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After all, nobody says, "Ugh, Sunday's got me stressed about the week ahead."

According to TimeAndDate.com, Sunday is officially considered the first day of the week in much of North and South America, including Canada. Meanwhile, most of Europe, Asia, and Australia kick things off on Monday.

And if you think this debate is confusing, some countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, and Somalia, consider Saturday the first day of the week.

Honestly, at this point, the real answer might be that the week starts whenever you've finally recovered from the previous one.

For millennials, the week usually begins somewhere between Monday morning and the moment you remember you forgot to switch the laundry over on Sunday night.