Why We Get The Sunday Scaries And How To Avoid Them
I had never heard the term Sunday Scaries until a few months ago. A fast food chain restaurant actually turned it into a marketing plan to offer meal deals for the family so parents didn’t have to stress about dinner amid the dread of the Sunday Scaries.
What Are The Sunday Scaries
So, first of all, what are the Sunday Scaries? It’s that feeling of dread or anxiety that comes along with the anticipation of the work week ahead. We look forward all week to Friday to start our time off. Saturday is a treasure. But then, Sunday comes and all we can think about is everything we have to do in the coming week.
Plus, if you aren’t completely happy with your job, your boss or your co-workers, you may dread it even more. And, just as we’ve started to feel the relaxation of the break, we have to abruptly snap back into work mode. So, we end up wasting the final day of our weekend worrying about what’s to come for the next 5 days. And, by the way, who came up with 5 and 2? It seems very unbalanced.
How To Fight The Sunday Scaries
But, how do we fight the Sunday Scaries? An article in Psychology Today suggests a few ways to help. Perhaps we do our best to get more work done on Friday to avoid walking into a huge load on Monday morning. I know these days it seems it’s all we can do to keep our head above water to finish our work for the current week. And, looking to work ahead on Friday would just make that day unbearable. But, it’s worth a try.
Of course, I remember having a school age child in the house. And, it was a chore making sure their homework was done before the weekend sprinted away. So, that’s another thing that might be on your plate. You have to experience the Sunday Scaries on behalf of another person as well! So, encourage those kiddos to get that work done so Sunday night doesn’t turn into dread.
The article also suggests varying your routine by packing up work bag on Friday ahead of your Monday morning rush out the door. In other words, we want to alleviate as much stress ahead of time as possible.
And, finally, one of my favorite things to do when trying to chase away the Sunday Scaries is to plan a Sunday Funday. If you’re all grownups in the house take a day with friends to do some brewery hopping or wine tasting. Maybe go for a hike or bike ride. And, if you have kiddos, plan a picnic or day at the park. And, maybe take in a movie if it’s a rainy day.
So, there you go. A few tips for chasing away the Sunday Scaries. I still vote for the 4 day work week!
