Three Ways to Fight the ‘Sunday Fear’ When the Weekend is Over

Sunday is often an opportunity to catch up with friends, catch up on sleep and recover from the previous night’s hangover.

But for many of us, when Sunday afternoon arrives, a feeling of intense anxiety and dread sets in—often called “Sunday fear.”

It is not surprising that the “fear of Sundays” is so common. After all, research shows that Sunday is the most miserable day of the week — while Saturday is the peak.

There are a number of reasons why this happens, and how you spend your weekend can play a big part.

For example, spending the whole weekend stuck at the computer is probably not a good idea, even if it’s for leisure.

Research shows that people who spend a lot of time on the computer tend to feel more anxious in general.

Too much alcohol and drugs can also cause your mood to plummet — and cause anxiety levels to spike the next day.

So, if you spent Saturday night partying, that might explain why you feel depressed or anxious on Sunday afternoon.

For many people, this feeling is also due to the work they left on Friday night.

The anticipation of the next day, the work you might have to do, and all those emails you have to read and respond to to catch up can cause anxiety.

But working over the weekend isn’t the answer either — and it can actually make your mental health worse.

Fear of Sundays can also happen because of social overload during the weekend.

This can be especially true for people who work hard all week or for those who are single and who reserve the weekend as their main time to socialize.

But spending time with other people, as enjoyable as it is, can put additional pressure on us. For example, when we share our friends’ concerns, we can become stressed too.

If you are someone who tends to suffer from the fear of Sundays, here are some things you can do to combat it:

1. Complete your tasks

One of the most effective ways to get rid of the fear of Sundays is to prevent them from happening in the first place.

That means trying to finish all the tasks you need to get done before the weekend, rather than putting it off until Monday morning.

When you know you have unfinished business on Monday, it can have a number of effects on you, including ruining your night’s sleep and making you more anxious on Sunday.

It can even affect your next week, making you more prone to burnout.
That’s why starting the week from scratch is crucial.

Before turning off your computer on Friday night, you can also reflect on the negative things that may have happened during the week, consider what changes you might want to make for next week, and try to resolve any loose ends or easy tasks instead. to leave them for Monday.

If you’re in the middle of a long-term project, at least try to complete one task that’s important, that will help you feel like a chapter of your work was closed on Friday, and there’s a new one ready to start on Monday. .

2. Positive anticipation

Probably the main reason you feel anxious on Sunday night is because of fear of the work you have to do next week — especially those tasks you hate.

But having events planned for the week that you can look forward to can help balance those negative emotions and make you feel more positive about the week ahead.

Try creating a new routine on Sunday where you can plan fun things to do during the week, like meeting friends for lunch or going to the movies after work.

3. Take note

If you’re afraid of Sundays but have no idea what’s causing it, take 20 uninterrupted minutes to write down your deepest thoughts and feelings.

This simple exercise can help you figure out what’s causing your anxious thoughts — and ultimately help you deal with them.

But if you’ve never tried expressive writing before, here are some tips that might be helpful to get you started:

– Write about your challenges using a different perspective (eg as your parents or best friend might see it).

– Try writing at different times of the day. It is possible that you are more or less focused at different times of the day, which can be important in helping you to connect with your feelings.

– If you find it difficult to talk or write about yourself, imagine that you are writing for a specific audience, such as a friend. This can help you better express what you’re feeling and understand why you’re feeling that way.

– If writing is not your thing, you can use an audio or video recorder to express yourself.

Of course, there are many reasons why people might be afraid on Sundays.

And while we can change some of these factors, others are a little more difficult to deal with, such as if your anxiety is due to working with people who treat you unfairly.

But regardless of the reasons why you might be tense and fearful on Sundays, remember that we often tend to exaggerate our anxieties in our heads—and often, those fears turn out to be unfounded.

*Jolanta Burke is a professor at the Center for Positive Psychology and Health at the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Ireland.

This article was originally published on the academic news site The Conversation and republished here under a Creative Commons license. Read the original version here (in English).