Summer is officially, officially over. Here in Utah we’ve experienced low temperatures, the leaves changing to their golden yellows and rusty browns, and even had some areas experience their first snow fall.
The cooler temps seem to get everyone geared up for the upcoming holidays, Happy HallowThanksChrisNewYearmas. But despite the upcoming spooky season, there’s one thing that comes year round and has people shaking to their bones ... Mondays.
Huh?
Yeah that’s right, Mondays have increasingly become an issue when it comes to employees and other people who are on a 5 to 2 day week schedule. The trending terminology for this new phenomenon is Sunday Scaries.
Never heard of it? Well here’s the elevator pitch version of what it is. It’s a mounting feeling of anxiety of the course of Sunday in regards to the work week. Symptoms of the Sunday Scaries may be feeling anxiety about the week, feeling stressed, worried, lack of sleep, etc.
While new in terminology it’s a feeling that working professionals have felt for years. Back during the Industrial Days, this #SundayScaries was due to genuine fear and dislike for their factory jobs that were a plague to workers health and safety. But with increasingly better working conditions, why are modern day employees facing this same increased anxiety when it comes to the end of the weekend?
According to the Washington Post, some theories that are being examined suggest that part of these emerging triggers are from the COVID-19 Pandemic. With most board meetings happening in our kitchens and our creative spaces in our bedrooms. We had an invasion of our personal space. Literally.
With work life physically competing with our home life, it was hard to set boundaries and be able to have the space, mentally, to separate the two. Competing for our time, more often than not many people took to working longer hours or continually checking their emails or phones for work related issues. Taking away from our supposedly home retreats drained many people, and caused the the #SundayScaries to become more predominant in our mental/emotional states.
Psychologists though have made these recommendations to help chase away those #MondayMonsters to help people take back their weekends and alleviate those #SundayScaries:
Rest. Rejuvenate. Repeat.
Don’t lie to yourself, how many of us have a list a mile long of things that have been put off till the weekend? Well, we’re not saying you shouldn’t get to your at home to-do list, but we’re also saying you need to take time to do things that are non-work related that can help you feel rejuvenated.
Write a To-Do List
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE creating a to-do list. Courtesy of my dad with his white boards filled with ever changing “Need To Do Soon” list, I’ve come to the light to see how practical and helpful it can be. Set a reminder, write in your notes, on paper, whiteboard, whatever that you see frequently, and write out your list of things you want/need to do at work that week and at home. It’ll alleviate your mind instead of packing that mental list around with you everywhere!
Create a Sunday Routine
Everyone has their thing to prepare, some like to prepare lunches for their work week, others like to hit that fun restaurant with their friends, and others just enjoy a lazy day at home. Whatever it is, find a routine that works best for you that helps you get in a relaxed mindset for the week so there’s no need to be anxious.
Treat Yo’ Self
There’s no need to wait till the weekends to do something fun! Plan little fun nuggets during your work week to help you decompress. It could be on Monday you treat yourself to your favorite lunch spot or Thursday doing a dinner out with friends or even doing a lazy dinner at home while watching your favorite show. Either way, don’t forget to take care of yourself. YOU are important, and YOUR needs shouldn’t be put to the side when things get busy.
If you’re wanting to expand this mindset to your workplace you can encourage management to do a company lunch one day or send out care packages for all of your co-workers, supervisors, or other employees. Showing care and compassion in the workplace is sure to help everyone feel a little more excited to show up for work on Monday!