If you often feel sad, anxious or depressed on Sundays, you may be suffering from the Sunday fear syndrome. If so, you’re not alone. According to a study for the Monster jobs site by the Huffington Post, a whacking 78% of respondents said that they suffer from this syndrome. What a plague it is!
It has many names. Some call it ‘The Sunday Night Blues’, ‘The Sunday Blues’, or ‘Sunday Scaries’. Others call it ‘The Sunday Spookies’, or ‘The Weirds’. Most people know it as ‘The Fear’.
The Sunday Night Blues results from a combination of realizing weekend fun is ending soon, and anticipating the beginning of 5 days of pressure. It can strike even those that like their jobs.
Here are some proven tips that help you beat that end-of-weekend fear.
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How to beat the Sunday Syndrome Bues
1. Gear up for Monday on Friday
Turn Friday afternoon into your new Monday morning. Friday afternoon, when you are excited about the weekend, is the perfect time to prepare for Monday. Set aside some time on that afternoon to take care of some little work that will await you on Monday. Get yourself organized so that you can enjoy the weekend and have less to feel stressed about over the work week to come.
Clean out your email and organize your space. Don’t let the unanswered emails bother you. Spend the last part of your Friday answering all your emails and cleaning out the inbox for a fresh Monday ahead. Make sure you acknowledge the receipt of emails – for example, simply give “Thanks” or “Got it”. It lets the sender know that they needn’t do anything else and can check this task off their list. Also, if you don’t have time to check all your emails, mark as unread. This will get rid of the worry that they’ll get lost in the clutter.
And don’t leave your work space a mess, either. A tiny space is a place you’ll be happier to come back to after the weekend.
Reflect on what you’ve accomplished that week. Leave your work with a sense of accomplishment rather than focus on what you still have to do. That way can make a significant difference in your sense of well-being. Review the goals that you set for the week and cross off what you have accomplished.
Write out your goals and to-do-list for the upcoming week. If there is something you didn’t accomplish this week, write out a to-do-list that details how and when you will take care of it in the week to come. It is a great way to let it go out of your head. You should also list 3 to 5 new goals you want to accomplish at work next week, and make a to-do-list that indicates how they will be accomplished.
Plan downtime. Use Friday afternoon to plan for the weekend. And plan for the following week. It’s really helpful to plan something for Monday. You can overcome the Sunday Night Blues with the sense of anticipation.
Set limits on your work availability on the weekend. Let your fellow workers know when you will be available to work. Otherwise, you may be asked to work. Tell them you will be doing no work on Sunday. That is a great way to avert Sunday from getting too stressful.
Say goodbye to your fellow workers and thank them. Let your colleagues know you appreciate any help they gave you throughout the week. In case any tensions flared up, try to resolve them as well as possible. Relationships have a lot to do with an enjoyable, comfortable workplace. By ensuring you leave your fellow workers on a high note, you can avoid the stress of worrying over seeing them on Monday.
See also:
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2. Make the most of Sunday
First do your hardest weekend chores. Wait until the last moment to do such weekend chores as planning meals, paying bills, balancing your budget, doing laundry, can leave you annoyed and stressed on Sunday. Instead, deal with the most annoying tasks on Saturday morning or afternoon, when you will have more energy and be in better mood. And if you don’t get through all in your to-do-list that weekend, don’t worry. Simply set aside some time to complete the tasks during the week or the next weekend.
Plan a fun activity for your Sunday evening. You can worry about Monday if you are not doing anything on Sunday evening. Instead, kick off a fun weekly ritual that makes that evening something to look forward to.
• Turn Sunday night into date night.
• Grab some popcorn and enjoy a movie.
• Have a dinner picnic.
• Watch your favorite TV show.
• Invite your friends over for dinner.
• Cook a fancy dinner.
• Do a volunteer activity.
• Have a game night.
Avoid alcohol. Whilst it may seem like a nice way to get over the blues, alcohol is a depressant that will just worsen your feeling. Drinking on Sunday will also make your Monday harder. Instead, have a healthy dinner Sunday night. Enjoy a warm cup of tea or some buddy water.
Turn off your phone and don’t check your work email. Doing work on Sunday can cause your anxiety and stress, and having not enough downtime can cause you to be less productive at work. Instead, take time to recharge your batteries and your energy after a stressful week.
If you must, just give yourself at most 30 minutes on Sunday to write out your work to-do-list and organize your calendar. Writing down things will allow you to put these tasks out of your head, and stop worrying about work, and will make space for you to think about relaxing.
Relax before bed. Though keeping preoccupied is a nice way to keep your mind off the blues, you should start relaxing by 8pm so that you can be in good shape for Monday. Attempt creating a soothing Sunday night ritual you can look forward to. And make sure to keep your work related items out of the bedroom so that you can properly relax. Some activities you can try include:
• Take a hot bath with salts or bubbles.
• Meditate.
• Do yoga.
• Read a good book.
• Listen to healing music.
• Give yourself a mani-pedi.
• Enjoy an evening walk.
• Watch the sunset.
3. Give yourself something to look forward to on Monday
Put on your favorite clothes. Studies prove that what you wear can have a remarkable effect on your mood. So make Monday the day you wear your favorite clothes or show off the latest addition to your wardrobe.
Make your commute far from stressful. A tough commute can cause stress and contribute to your Sunday Night Blues. So on Monday, make your commute fun. Leave earlier so that you can stop and get your favorite breakfast. Or try getting a book on tape. It will give you something to look forward to on your commute.
Make your lunch an event. Treat yourself a nice lunch on Monday. Take a fellow worker if you can. Developing personal connections at work will help make the working place less stressful.
Plan a fun activity after work. Fun isn’t just for weekends. To dispel the Sunday Night Blues, go out on a date, go to a movie or concert on Monday night. Or have a nice night at home enjoying your favorite show. If you have kids, just head out for dinner, make Monday night the pizza night or game night, or employ a babysitter and have a date night.
4. Understand your blues
Confront your feelings. Recognize that you have the Sunday Night Blues and what they stem from can be very helpful for you to work through them. Note down specific tasks, actions, or times of days triggering your blues. Write down what you feel, what time it is and why you think you feel so.
• If your Sunday blues stem from leaving unpleasant tasks for the following week until the Sunday night to complete, then the possible solution is to change your weekend and work routine.
• If you Sunday blues come from anxiety about an upcoming presentation or assignment scheduled on Monday, allow yourself to see your nervousness as normal, and tell yourself that Monday will go well. Set aside preparation time that weekend to make sure you are prepared.
• If your Sunday blues come from your jobs and none of the steps you take to deal with them work, then it may be time for you to look for new employment. Plan a little time on Sunday’s to update your resume and find for work.
Make Sunday simply another day. If you think of Friday as the end of the week, you will be anxious about what you have not got done. Likewise, if you think of Sunday as the end of the weekend, you will worry that you have not optimized your time. Still, these days are not ends. They are just part of eternal progression of days and nights. If you don’t finish what you want to do on Sunday, that’s fine. You have the week ahead to do it.
• If Sunday evening is nearing and you still have tasks to complete, don’t try to cram them that night. Instead, make a to-do-list of how you will finish them during the next week.
• Space out your fun activities. Trying to cram all of your fun into the weekend can be more stressful than enjoyable. Make sure you space out fun activities throughout the week. That way you will not be disappointed if your weekend is not as fantastic as you expected.
Get professional counseling. If after you adjust your weekend routine, organize your Fridays, and try to make your Monday a fun day, you still suffer from the Sunday fear syndrome, it’s high time to consult a professional who will help you discover deeper causes of your negative feelings. They may come from experiences earlier in your life – for example, fearing school on Mondays as you had a learning disorder or were bullied. Or they may reflect your unease with the work type you do.
And to employers...
Fostering a creative and engaging environment help a lot with your employees’ overcoming their Monday blues. Your small, caring gestures can make them feel valued – for example, acknowledging their small triumphs with a bottle of wine or a small gift; putting a bunch of flowers on their desk on the first day of spring. Not expensive gestures, but they can contribute to a workplace environment that your employees all look forward to Monday mornings instead of dreading those days.
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