For many people, the thought of starting a new week is not the best feeling in the world. Though the weekdays are the source of anxiety here, this feeling is mostly referred to as the Sunday night blues. This is a real thing and it affects a lot of people, ranging from kids to the average working-class folks. To put it simply, it’s basically a shift from excitement and relief after enjoying the weekend to the anxiety of starting a new week and returning to work.
In fact, in a recent international poll, 78% of respondents claimed to have experienced the Sunday night blues. So, whether you are a CEO or an intern, first, rest easy in the fact that it’s a shared sentiment across the board. But, the good news is, there are ways to conquer this dreadful feeling.
- Have a plan
Having your week planned out gives you a better understanding of what needs to be done, how to go about it, and when they need to be done. Once everything is planned out, it is easy to set priorities, or at the very least, brace yourself. To navigate this, you can choose to start with the most difficult task or set it aside for your burn out day. This is a term used to describe a particular day in the week set aside to do the most difficult or challenging tasks.
Having a burnout day helps you challenge your work ethics and even improves your perseverance. More so, the upside to making plans and prioritizing them is a decrease in anxiety and that feeling of being swamped. You see, when things are organized, it is a lot easier to be productive – you may even realize that some tasks are not as difficult as your mind projected them to be.
- Plan your outfits
Unless you are working from home or have a dress code at work, planning your outfits helps you stay put together all through the week.
Make Sunday nights fun by trying out clothes that feel good and picking what will give you the confidence to face the week ahead. If you feel the week will require you to move around a lot, pick out comfortable clothes and shoes.
People are at their best when they are confident, and failure to plan can leave you sporting a ‘not-so-good’ outfit. In a nutshell, that’ll snip at your confidence and overall productivity.
- Re-evaluate your commute
Not everyone that has the privilege of working from home, or at least, close to where they live. Some people may have to commute to work and depending on the distance, it could take up to an hour of your time.
Over time, having to commute every day could have an effect on your health and could equally contribute to the anxiety you feel on Sunday nights. For the most part, this anxiety could be fueled by the fear of missing the bus or the train.
If owning a car is something you want to do in the near future, you can look into borrowing the money. It could be from the bank or from direct lenders such as Buddy loans, direct guarantor loan lender. This way, you can get a car need and reduce the anxiety you feel in relation to your commute. To ease yourself into the day, maximize your commute by using that time to listen to a podcast or ‘feel-good’ music for motivation.
- Have a morning routine
Infuse activities you enjoy doing into your morning routine. One great route to take is through meditation since it calms your mind when there are a million things running through it. Also, taking some time out to journal after meditating enables you to really get in touch with your feelings. Journaling for a period of time allows you to see the pattern of things that make you feel anxious. With this information, you can look for more direct ways to solve those issues.
- Respect your private time
Sometimes, life gets so busy and our worlds merge thereby creating more chaos. Learn to respect your private time by disconnecting from work during the weekend. It may be difficult to do at first but remember, just because you are thinking about work doesn’t mean you have to do any work. More so, don’t bring your work home and if you are not an essential service provider, try not to look through your work emails until Monday morning.
Simply scheduling activities to do during the weekend will help you unplug and the great thing is, these activities do not even have to be elaborate. It could be catching up on your favorite TV show, experimenting with new recipes, or going on dates with friends.
To Summarise
If after implementing the tips above you haven’t noticed an improvement in your mood on Sunday night, do not self-prescribe or medicate. Rather, consider talking to a health professional as the feelings associated with Sunday night blues are quite similar to depression and adult ADHD.