SINGAPORE: Sunday scaries—that dreadful feeling deep in your gut whenever you start a mental countdown to Monday and the beginning of yet another work week. How do you get over them so you can face a new week without dreading it? This was the concern that an online user asked Singaporeans on social media on Sunday (Mar 9).
“I’ve been feeling extremely stressed in my current job, constantly anxious, and even tearing up at times,” the writer shared. “Ever since I started working, I haven’t been sleeping well either.” The overwhelmed worker shared how Sundays are particularly difficult.
“Sundays feel the worst because they signal the start of a new workweek, and because of that, I can’t bring myself to go out on Sundays anymore,” he said. “I feel like I need to mentally prepare for the Monday blues.
I know I should be grateful and feel fortunate to have a job, especially in this tough job market, but it’s been really difficult for me. Looking for any advice, please. Thanks! P.S. It’s really tough for me.”
Many responded to the post with words of encouragement. “For me, what helped was to spend a short time each Friday to make a to-do list for the following week. This makes me somewhat ‘in control’ of what is to come,” said one.
“You may also schedule something nice to look forward to on Monday, like a nice dinner, but if it is severely affecting your mental health, you might want to seek professional help.”
“I used to experience this, and the important thing to know is this is only temporary and gets better,” shared another.
“The biggest thing is to declutter your space and stay off your phone on Sunday, to unplug from digital devices as much as possible for one day—two hours on the phone is plenty. The point is to regulate your dopamine levels.
The stress and anxiety are caused by dopamine overload. The more ‘nothing’ you can do will let the dopamine and cortisol levels come down so when you have to activate again, you can feel more manageable.”
According to Headspace, a healthcare company that specialises in mental health, the “Sunday scaries” usually start during the invisible countdown to the end of the weekend. Sunday scaries are characterised by feelings of anxiety or dread, which occur before starting a new week.
Even those with a fulfilling weekend and a manageable workload may still experience Sunday scaries if they associate work with stress. Over time, this conditioning makes any work-related thought feel like a threat, triggering a fight-or-flight response.
This can be worse if they fear that they didn’t maximise their weekend. As a result, people feel workplace stress before the workweek has even begun.
However, people can overcome the Sunday scaries in several ways, such as by putting things into perspective, meditating and re-wiring their brains to stop associating Sundays with pre-week stress or anxiety. This can be done by prioritising self-care and engaging in activities that make you feel good.
See also: Nightshifters in Singapore: How do you sleep during the day?
Featured photo by Depositphotos/ tuaindeed (for illustration purposes only)