The “Sunday scaries” are the feelings of anxiety or dread that arise the day before heading back to work (also known as the “Sunday night blues”). I used to struggle a lot with these feelings (Sunday afternoons could feel so heavy), but after learning a few strategies, this part of the week has gotten a lot easier.
Laura Vanderkam suggests planning your upcoming week on Friday. This way you go into the weekend knowing what you need to do the following week, and won’t spend it ruminating over what has to get done and when. When you plan, be sure to pace things over the upcoming week and not pack everything into Monday so you’re not bracing yourself for a tsunami of a to-do list on Monday.
Once you’ve planned the coming week, approach your weekend like a vacation, suggests Cassie Holmes. (This is easier said than done for those of us who work on Sunday, but still, parts of Sunday can be protected as vacation time). What does this look like? Perhaps you can schedule your errands to do during the week (on the way to or from work; maybe you can go to the Target or pharmacy near where you work rather than where you live). Get together with other people. Go on a day trip or have a little adventure. Give yourself something to look forward to on Sunday so you don’t spend the day dreading Monday.
Sunday can be a great time to do things on your fun list. It takes a bit of planning, but you can give your week a cheerful start.
How do you like to spend your Sundays?