When Sunday rolls around, you start to experience dread, anxiousness, or worry. You have the Sunday Scaries. You spend the day worrying about what is to come with the week ahead. All the worrying has cut your rest time on your weekend in half. Here are some ways to deal with the Sunday Scaries.
1. Get Curious
Ask yourself what’s the thing I am dreading the most. My job? What about it? Is your boss a jerk? Consider moving positions/jobs. You don’t have to stay in a shitty job. Is it the long list of things you have to get done this week? Ask for help or delegate tasks. Figure out the things you dread the most and ask yourself if there is anything you can do about it.
Now let’s go deeper into the narratives you hold about yourself. Do you have a sense that you have to perform to perfection in all your tasks? Does your job remind you of all of the ways you are not good enough? Do you feel like you don’t belong in your work environment? If the answer to these questions is anything but no, you’ve got some healing work to do.
2. Self Care, Self Care, Self Care
Ideally, you are doing something for your self care every day. You shouldn’t wait until Sunday to do a week’s worth of self care. Remember self care is preventative, not reactive. Self care for the Sunday Scaries looks like:
- Regular exercise – exercise helps regulate your nervous system
- Delegating tasks – you don’t have to be the one to do everything
- Asking for help – when you are stuck or stressed, ask for help before it becomes overwhelming
- Do some deep breathing
- Say positive affirmations
- Go for a walk outside – 5 minutes in nature can improve your mood
- Eat healthy meals – what you eat has a significant impact on your mood
- Set boundaries
3. Boundaries
No answering work calls/texts/emails after work. Does your work really have work emergencies? Typically no, unless you are in the medical field or a first responder. I’ve never heard of a tax emergency, a graphic design emergency, or a sales emergency. At times this may feel very counterintuitive to not answer your phone immediately when your boss calls asks you to work past your scheduled hours (this is a sign you are a people pleaser). If your boss doesn’t like it, see bullet point 1. Remember, boundaries are to show others how to respect you. If you are allowing your job to run into your personal time, you are telling your job this is something you are willing to tolerate. You deserve to have personal time, so put up some firm boundaries around it.
4. Plan something fun for Sundays
If you are waiting until Sunday to do all your housework, it will likely lead to thoughts about work. Look at your schedule and see what you can do throughout the week or on Saturday. If on Sundays you are a big ball of anxiety, you need to be planning extra time to slow down and self-soothe. Create a Sunday routine you look forward to.
Here are some ideas for Sunday Routine
- Make a big breakfast and stay in pajamas all day
- Have a movie night with your favorite people Sunday night
- Take extra long to do your skincare routine
- Pick out your favorite cheesy romance novel and sit down and read it
- Become a tourist in your own city on Sundays
- Make Sunday night a date night instead of Friday or Saturday night
- Do crafty things on Sunday (i.e. paint, color, knit, glue, woodwork)
Sundays don’t have to be scary. Once you figure out what it is you are dreading, you can work on it, establish a daily self care routine, and plan a fun Sunday.
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