Quote from Alex bobby on September 15, 2025, 3:08 AM

Beating the Sunday Scaries: How Small Strategies Can Ease the Dread of Monday

It’s Sunday. The weekend is slipping away, and instead of enjoying the last stretch of free time, a familiar knot begins to form. Thoughts of unanswered emails, back-to-back meetings, and an already overwhelming to-do list creep in, clouding the day. This sinking feeling has a name: the “Sunday Scaries.”

While the term might sound lighthearted, science shows it’s more common and serious than many realise. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), nearly 80 percent of U.S. adults say they struggle to fall asleep on Sundays compared to other nights. In the U.K., a government survey found that 67 percent of adults regularly experience Sunday anxiety before the workweek begins, rising to 74 percent among 18–24-year-olds.

“It could be a reflection that you’re not happy in your job, but it could also be a reflection that you have very high self-expectations about what you do at work,” says Ilke Inceoglu, a professor of organisational behaviour and HR management at the University of Exeter Business School.

Why Sunday Scaries Hit So Hard

The triggers are often tied to “work stresses, lack of sleep and looming to-do lists,” the AASM notes. And the impact isn’t just mental. A 2025 study of older adults found that Monday-specific anxiety caused 23 percent higher cortisol levels—the body’s main stress hormone—sustained over two months. Left unchecked, this can harm sleep quality, worsen mental health, and even affect cardiovascular health.

Crucially, Sunday dread isn’t limited to people who dislike their jobs. Inceoglu’s team surveyed nearly 600 people and conducted in-depth interviews with 33 employees to study the “Sunday Night Blues.” About 79 percent said they had experienced it at some point, and 37.3 percent said they were currently affected. Interestingly, there were no major gender differences, but younger workers were more likely to feel this anxiety.

“The older you are, the less likely you are too experience the Sunday Night Blues,” Inceoglu explained. “Once you have gone through different career stages, you just have sort of a different way of looking at work.”

The ‘Fresh Hell’ of Mondays

Dr. Audrey Tang, a BPS Chartered Psychologist and author of The Leader’s Guide to Wellbeing, believes the unease is often more about unpredictability than dislike of work itself.

“While one might assume that it is a dread of work itself—I would suggest that it often relates to the unknown surrounding what may happen once back at the desk… rather than a slow start there is almost a feeling of hitting the ground running, and a concern with ‘what fresh hell will hit me today... and can I deal with it?!’” she said.

The COVID-19 pandemic and rise of remote and hybrid work blurred the line between workspace and relaxation space, which worsened the problem. “Unfortunately, we can become conditioned to feelings created within our environment,” Tang added. “If working on the bed, you begin to associate that space with thinking, or anxiety about work… and then in that space trying to sleep, the same feelings can appear.”

Strategies to Ease Sunday Anxiety

While some people may need professional help if Sunday dread becomes severe or persistent, both Inceoglu and Tang recommend practical steps to reclaim Sundays and lower stress before Monday arrives.

1. Protect Sundays with Intentional Plans
Inceoglu suggests planning enjoyable activities to look forward to.
“Sunday night could be a cinema night with friends. There’s a lot of evidence, for instance, that exercise, social interaction, hobbies—all these things are good for managing anxiety,” she said. Setting aside dedicated time for relaxation or fun can shift the focus away from upcoming stressors.

2. Set Work-Life Boundaries
Managers can also play a role by reducing weekend work pressures. Avoiding Sunday night emails or moving Monday morning meetings to Tuesday can help employees ease into the week more gradually. For individuals, turning off work notifications, logging out of email, or simply closing the home office door can send a clear signal: the workweek hasn’t started yet.

3. Prepare for Monday in Advance
Tang recommends small, manageable routines to reduce the chaos of Monday mornings. “Have your clothing set out for the week, or have your lunch prepared,” she said. These low-effort habits remove uncertainty and save mental energy, making Monday feel less overwhelming.

4. Separate Work and Relaxation Spaces
If you work from home, avoid using spaces like your bed or couch for work tasks. Physically separating your workspace from your living space helps your brain recognise when it’s time to relax, improving both sleep and mood.

5. Practice Mindful Moments
Tang also highlights the power of mindfulness to stay present and calm. “For some, taking time to meditate or do some light exercise can be effective… for others it might be taking those mindful moments when we can—stopping to focus on what we are doing, being present when we are eating, or with family, or having a cup of tea.”

These moments don’t need to be long or complicated. What matters is the active choice to slow down.

When Sunday Dread Goes Too Far

For most people, Sunday anxiety is an unpleasant but manageable part of working life. But for others, it can be severe enough to drive major decisions. A Resume.io survey of 1,000 Americans found that 20 percent of Gen Z respondents had actually quit a job because of the Sunday Scaries, and nearly half said they had considered it.

While that may seem extreme, it shows how deeply anticipatory stress can shape our lives. Sometimes, it signals dissatisfaction with a job that needs addressing. Other times, it reflects overly high self-expectations or unsustainable workloads.

Reclaiming Your Sundays

The Sunday Scaries may never vanish entirely, but recognising them as more than just a “cute” phrase is the first step toward managing them. They’re a mix of psychology, biology, and workplace culture—and they’re common.

“It could be a reflection that you’re not happy in your job, but it could also be a reflection that you have very high self-expectations about what you do at work,” Inceoglu notes. “And it could also be an opportunity to think about reaching out to your manager and having a conversation about workload prioritisation.”

With intentional planning, small routines, and healthier boundaries, we can turn down the volume on Sunday dread—and maybe even learn to enjoy Sundays again.

Looking Forward

While the Sunday Scaries might never disappear completely, they don’t have to define the end of your weekends. By building small, proactive habits—protecting your Sundays with meaningful plans, setting clear boundaries between work and rest, and easing into Mondays with simple preparations—you can gradually change the emotional tone of your Sundays.

Looking forward, this shift isn’t just about reducing stress; it’s about reclaiming your time and mental space. When Sundays stop being a countdown to chaos and start feeling like part of your life again, you’ll enter each new week more rested, more balanced, and more in control.

Final Thoughts

The Sunday Scaries are more than just a fleeting case of nerves — they’re a real and widespread form of anticipatory anxiety that can impact both mental and physical health. But they don’t have to control your weekends. Through intentional planning, creating boundaries, and practicing small routines, you can transform Sunday evenings from a source of dread into a time of calm and preparation.

Ultimately, the goal isn’t to eliminate the stress off Monday altogether, but to soften its arrival. By reframing how you approach Sundays, you can step into the new week feeling centred, capable, and ready — rather than drained before it even begins.

Conclusion

The Sunday Scaries may be a common part of modern working life, but they are far from inevitable. What often begins as a vague sense of unease can quickly snowball into disrupted sleep, mounting anxiety, and a feeling of starting the week already behind. Yet understanding where this anxiety comes from—whether it’s tied to overwhelming workloads, high self-expectations, blurred boundaries between work and personal life, or simply the uncertainty of what Monday might bring—can be the first step toward taking back control of your weekends.

By intentionally planning enjoyable activities, setting clear work-life boundaries, and adopting small, supportive routines like preparing clothes or lunches in advance, you can change how your mind experiences Sundays. These simple practices reduce mental clutter, ease the transition into Monday, and allow you to enjoy your downtime without the shadow of upcoming tasks looming over you. Over time, they can help retrain your brain to see Sundays not as the beginning of stress, but as the closing chapter of rest.

Rather than letting Sunday anxiety overshadow your weekends, you can choose to approach Mondays from a place of balance, clarity, and readiness. In doing so, you protect your mental and physical well-being while setting the tone for a calmer, more productive week ahead. Reclaiming your Sundays isn’t just about avoiding stress — it’s about giving yourself permission to fully enjoy your free time and start each new week on your own terms.

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Struggling with Sunday night anxiety? Discover practical strategies like setting boundaries, planning enjoyable activities, and small prep routines to reduce Sunday Scaries and start your week with calm and confidence.