Sunday Night Anxiety – A Survivor’s Guide.

One minute, it’s all ‘Fri-Yay’and life is brimming with the joyous possibility of the weekend ahead. What fun we will have! All that stuff we will get done! All that time to relax! Next minute, it’s 4pm on Sunday, you have the scattered remains of a hangover, at least 2 loads of washing left to do, and are beginning to seriously question if your life has any meaning, purpose or value.

If you suffer from the Sunday Scaries, you are not alone. In a 2013 poll, run by Monster.com, 76% of the respondents admitted to suffering from the Sunday Night Blues. Why is it that 7pm on any other day of the week feels like the start of our evening? But on Sunday, 7pm feels like THE END. It seems such a waste. I think we would be far better served by taking back the tail end of our weekend and squeezing every, last drop from it. So, in that disgruntled spirit of optimism, let’s look at why we get so anxious and find some ways to flip the Sunday night narrative on its head.

On Fridays I Prefer my Expresso in a Martini.

For a lot of people, the weekend signals the start of some serious, no mucking about, binge-drinking. Boozing, fun though it may be, does an excellent job at sapping your brain of lots of fancy sounding stuff like gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), serotonin and glutamate – all key to our brain’s natural mood-regulation processes. Yup – you can blame these guys for the fear, self-loathing and astonishing lack of motivation the next morning.  Not to mention the creeping sense of doom come Sunday (see The Shame Dungeon post for more on this hideous experience.)

Cure? You have two options around this one. Drink less (Durr!) Or you can decide to reframe your response to it. A friend of mine is excellent at this. Instead of waking up with regret and remorse (‘Urghhhh!!), he just wakes up, smiles and says, ‘Well, that was fun!’ Failing that, 2 x ibuprofen, washed down with grapefruit juice (which limits the activity of the enzyme that breaks down drugs), will improve your sense of humour no end.

Fear Makes the Wolf Bigger Than He Is.

Anxiety is, literally, a fear of the unknown. Sunday nights, by their very nature, bring with them an impending sense of uncertainty about the week ahead. We might know that we are going to work on Monday, or that we have that date on Wednesday – but we don’t know how that presentation will go, or if we will actually like that bloke from Bumble. Most of us worry way too much and this, combined with the sad feeling that the parties over, can make the second half of Sunday fall super flat.

Cure? Couple of options for this one. Weird as it sounds, you might find that making a ‘Worry List’, helps. The very act of writing down details of your own anxiety gets it out of your head, where it can grow large and scary looking, and onto paper, where you can see it and manipulate it. Ask yourself – What am I worried about? Is it in my control? Is it my responsibility? What actions will help me resolve this worry? Next up – distraction action – because it’s harder to worry when your brain is busy with other tasks. Organise to do something you really enjoy, that stretches right into the pointy corners of your Sunday. Go see a movie with a friend, teach your flatmate how to cook, take a salsa class or go out for an early dinner – just because it’s Sunday doesn’t mean you have to stay home, hibernate and binge.

Too Much For One Sunday to Handle.

We put a lot of pressure on poor old Sunday. It doesn’t really seem fair that Friday and Saturday get to have all the fun, whilst Sunday is usually assigned the chores and tedium.

Cure? Try switching your weekend around, because a little delayed gratification never hurt anyone.  Friday: The Martinis can wait. Finishing up the week properly can make for far less Sunday dread and a much softer landing come Monday. Tidy your desk, file your stuff, review your calendar, make a clear list of tasks for the following week. Mentally pack away your working week and promise yourself there will be NO work emails opened or answered, for the rest of the weekend. Because all work and no play, makes for some very boring dinner party stories. So, get your Fri-Yay on. That’s an order. Saturday: Make the morning yours and spend it how you wish. Sleep in late, eat croissants in bed, go for a run or simply piece your night back together – one text message at a time. Around late morning (which for some may be after lunch), dedicate a solid few hours to ‘Sunday stuff’ – tidy up, do a shop, clean the car, pay the bills. Then go and enjoy the rest of the day, in the smug knowledge you have all that boring, but important, stuff out of the way. Sunday: Fun Day! Do anything you damn well please. Well, at least until 10pm, you little Rock-star you.

Stop the Hamster Wheel – I Want to Get Off.

 If 76% of the surveyed population get bummed on a Sunday, we can safely assume that there is a certain amount of low-level anxiety we can deem ‘normal’. However, if you feel that your sense of Monday dread goes much deeper than that, then it might be time to take a broader view. Life should not feel like an endless trek, knee-deep in boredom and regret, interrupted by the occasional burst of weekend self-medicating, before starting the whole thankless business again the following Monday. This is YOUR life and maybe it is time to start designing it better. Many of us spend longer deciding what to wear, than thinking about how we really want to spend, the actual days of our lives.

And if that’s way too heavy this early, (or late) in the day, at least you now have the whole of Sunday free, to maybe give it some thought.

This Get Happier post is brought to you by someone who is a BIG fan of the 4 day week. Happy Easter Weekend You Lovely People!

Photo Credit: Free for Commercial Use – via www.pixabay.com