How to Ditch the the "Sunday Scaries"

Do you live for the weekend? Spend your work weeks looking forward to those few days that are reserved for fun, rest and recovery? 

At one level, it sounds pretty good — at a deeper level — it might be an indicator of not being able to fully tap into your potential. 

Here’s one way to explore that thought a bit further…

When the weekend comes to a close, and Sunday afternoon and rolls around, do you have a little anxiety spike? That feeling that happens after you think to yourself… 

“My weekends are way too short.” 

“I can’t believe Monday is almost here and I have to start another work week…” 

“It’ll be forever until the weekend starts again.” 

This phenomenon has been widely labeled the “Sunday Scaries.” 

Or maybe you love what you do, and get so overwhelmed by the amount of work you have during the week, that the thinking patterns sound more like… 

“I really need more time with my family.”

“I can’t believe how tired I am and I just can’t get my head above water.”

“I should’ve checked my emails and gotten a jump start on that project that’s coming up.”

Whatever the narrative is, if you’ve ever had the Sunday scaries, you’ll for sure agree that starting the work week with dread and anxiety is not an optimal way to create a sustainable, high-performing way of living. 

So what causes the “scaries?” Beyond just the looming piles of emails and usual Monday check-in with your boss? 

One of the causes may be that you’re not aligned with your purpose – or perhaps, it’s difficult to find meaning in the work you’re doing. Not having clarity on why you’re currently doing the work that you’re doing can lead to anxiety-producing thought patterns. 

Here’s a bold claim: 

It’s likely not the work you’re doing that’s causing the anxiety, it’s the way you’re relating to the work. 

What does that mean exactly? Well, it’s the way you’re speaking to yourself about your work and how that, in turn, impacts the quality. 

In fact, it is YOU that determines the quality of your life. You are an active agent in creating and co-creating how you experience each day. 

1. Why are we here, on this planet? 
2. What’s it all about? 
3. What is your unique purpose in life? 
4. What are the guiding principles that influence your thoughts, words and actions? 
5. What does a “quality life” mean? A life of meaning and fulfillment? 
6. What is possible (not probable) in your life? 
7. What do you want to pass on to the next generation?

These are some of the big questions to grok. 

It’s not as if there’s a “right answer.” Perhaps, there’s not even “an answer.” Rather, the gold-dust lies in the exploration to better understand. 

It’s the act of examining, with a beginners-mind that gets us closer to aligning who we are, with what we do. When left unexamined, it’s natural to feel anxious, and to organize a life oriented towards relief, rather than towards discovering how to live fully present, wherever we are, with whatever we’re doing.

Another key reason that you might be having the Sunday scaries may be due to under-recovery. Recovery is an absolute necessity to performing at your best – without it we are on the path toward staleness and even worse, burnout. One of the symptoms of burnout is a pervasive need to “get away” because “it’s just too much.” Burnout is often described as a complete mental and physical exhaustion. 

If you’re finding yourself dreading to go back to “the grind,” maybe what you’re really craving is developing a proper recovery program. (i.e. mindfulness practices/meditation, dedicating time to stretch your muscles, meal-prepping for the week ahead)

Alright so we’ve identified some potential underlying issues that lead to “the scaries” – what are some solutions? 

1. Explore the big questions: 
2. Clarify your purpose. Why are you on this planet?
3. What are the guiding principles that influence your thoughts, words and actions? 
4. What does a “quality life” mean? 
5. Why do you do the job you do? 
6. Invest in recovery: 

• Sleep well
• Eat and hydrate well
• Move well
• Daily Mindfulness
• Laugh, a lot

At some point, you’ll begin to notice that purpose will change your relationship with how you think about the future, thereby altering and possibly decreasing the frequency and experience of anxiousness. 

Sundays don’t need to be scary. When aligned with purpose, it’s simply another day, another opportunity to create a living masterpiece (whatever that might mean to you). 

Simple Joys, 

Mike