Do you spend your Sunday's enjoying the weekend or do you spend your time stressing about Monday before it's even begun? One study[i] found that 81% of more than 1,000 respondents said they became progressively more anxious as their Sunday came to a close while two-thirds reported a restless night's sleep on a Sunday due to job-related anxiety.
Spending Sunday stressing about the week ahead actually has a physiological term "anticipatory anxiety" otherwise known as 'Sunday Sadness' or the 'Sunday Scaries.'
Sunday Sadness isn't reserved for those that hate their jobs, even people who love their work reported anxiety surrounding job expectations and excessive workloads. And for those not working a traditional full-time Monday to Friday job, anticipatory anxiety can strike on a differing day.
Here are some tips on how you can keep your mood in weekend mode and kick Sunday sadness in the butt!
Boost Your Happy Hormones
Great concern over work-related topics floods your body with adrenaline, increasing your heart rate and blood pressure. Your breathing becomes fast and additional oxygen is produced to your brain. Paired with the release of the cortisol (stress) hormone, this gives you a temporary boost of energy.
To stop you from feeling like you are on high alert all day, find a way to counter the stress, boost the happy hormones and use up that energy – which can be a simple as physical exercise. Getting out on your bike, going for a run, doing a workout is great for reducing the anxiety and good for your physical health too!
Forest Bathing
Thankfully, this doesn't mean dragging a bath to the middle of the forest and getting your gear off. Forest bathing also referred to as nature therapy or ecotherapy, is “the emersion of oneself in nature to increase mental and physical wellness”.
The day before you head back to work take an afternoon stroll in your local park, rainforest or bush track. You will find the sounds of nature, the scent of the trees and the sunlight playing through the leaves relaxes you. Not to mention the benefits the fresh air has on your clarity.
Binging Booze Causes Sunday Night Blues
Binge drinking may not be the healthiest activity for your body, but did you know it is also known to cause the post drinking blues? While we often pick up a beer or glass of wine to wind down it can actually be making the situation worse. Reducing or avoiding alcohol on Saturday can mean you wake up feeling more refreshed and alert for the days keeping the Sunday scaries at bay.
Further, avoiding alcohol on Sundays can help ensure you have a better night sleep ahead of the Monday workday too as alcohol keeps you in lighter stages of sleep, dramatically reducing the quality of your rest.
Ditch the Tech
We know it’s hard not to look at work emails or take work-related calls over the weekend and so start small by making your bedroom a tech-free zone of a Sunday. That means no TV, video games or phone. If you need your phone for an alarm, purchase a good old-fashioned alarm clock; that way, there is little temptation to check notifications before bed and exposure yourself to blue light that can disrupt your sleep. The National Sleep Foundation[v] suggests "at least 30 minutes of gadget-free transition time before hitting the hay."
Contact a recruitment agency like Trojan Recruitment Group and receive advice from the experts in permanent and contract roles.
References
[i]https://www.thesleepjudge.com/sunday-scaries/#%25-of-people-who-experience-anxiety-on-sunday
[ii]https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/facts/health-effects-of-alcohol/mental-health/alcohol-and-mental-health
[iii]https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/facts/health-effects-of-alcohol/mental-health/alcohol-and-suicidal-thoughts
[iv]https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135935/http:/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/r214.pdf
[v] https://www.sleep.org/articles/ways-technology-affects-sleep/
https://www.realsimple.com/health/mind-mood/emotional-health/why-you-feel-sad-on-sunday
https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/27/health/sunday-blues-work-stress-wellness/index.html
