The Sunday Scaries

The power of proactive preparation

The Sunday scaries - a time when the weekend winds down and the reality of a full work week ahead sets in. Or, perhaps a new week of job hunting or leaving a role.

Headspace describes it as:

“The Sunday Scaries (or Sunday blues, as they're sometimes called) are feelings of anxiety or dread that happen the day before heading back to work. According to a LinkedIn survey, 80 percent of professionals say they experience the Sunday Scaries, with over 90 percent of Millennials and Gen Z reporting they feel it” Source.

There are lots of great tips out there on how to deal with it holistically. We wanted to add some tried and tested PG tips on it too because the Sunday scaries are real.

First, we want you to self-validate that what you’re feeling is very real and can be overwhelming. We’ve been there, we get it, it’s often symptomatic of bigger issues at work that are not being addressed. While it’s not pleasant, it gives you an opportunity to dig into why you’re feeling this way.

Here are some questions to help you reflect:

1. When you start to think about the start of your work week, what is the first worry that comes to mind?

2. What do you need at work that you’re not getting?

3. Who at work is a source of stress for you? Why?

4. If you could change one thing about your work environment, what would it be?

5. If a friend called you and shared the same feelings that you have now, what would you tell them to do?

6. Do you feel safe at work? Do you feel you can be yourself? Do you belong?

   1. Who can you talk to? What resources are available to support you?

Often feeling unprepared creates a lot of Sunday scary stress. And, the above are big questions. You don’t have to have the answers yet and you may find adding or substituting your self-created questions is helpful too.

PG tips:

• Write down what is most worrying you about your ‘to dos’

• Consider using the Eisenhower Matrix to help define what is the priority and what is 'noise'.

• Before you go to bed prep what you will wear, what you will eat and plan for your commute or work-from-home routine. This frees up valuable space in your mind so you can focus on the source(s) of stress.

• Write out your top three things you will accomplish tomorrow.

• Mentally close out your pre-work preparation and give yourself permission to disconnect from fixating on work - you have a mini plan, and you know what needs your attention.

You got this.