Sunday Night Syndrome, or Sunday Night Blues are experienced by different people in different ways, but they usually indicate a dread of going to work on Monday morning. Some people become very anxious, lose sleep, worry about assignments due the next day, feel anxious without knowing why, have a knot in their stomach, fret, or worry about interactions with the boss or office politics. For others it is a feeling of sadness that their free time is over.
Long commutes, unpleasant bosses, stressful workplaces, difficult office politics, job insecurity due to the current economy, unpleasant interactions with other employees, and budget tightening at work can make Sunday Night Syndrome worse.
However, even if you have a job you love you can experience Sunday Night Syndrome. With Sunday night can come a feeling of loss upon the realization that your personal time will soon be over. You may not have accomplished everything you planned over the weekend and feel the weekend slipped away too quickly. Or you may not have rested sufficiently and the next weekend seems an eternity away. You may being having the time of your life if you've planned that favorite weekend getaway or scheduled a favorite hobby or event and may resent having to stop what you love doing to return to work.
Even unemployment may not lessen the effects of Sunday Night Syndrome. Weekends are when everyone else is off work too, so being unemployed is not so obvious. There is no rush hour traffic where everyone is going to work except you. And your friends are off on the weekends so it's less obvious that you are alone in your unemployment. On Monday, everyone goes back to work leaving you sitting at home to resume the sometimes humiliating experience of looking for a job and attending job interviews.
However you experience Sunday Night Syndrome, there are things you can do to lessen it's sting.
- Plan something exciting or enjoyable for Monday evening. Having something pleasant to look forward to on Monday evening may help you face it and make it seem less of a deprivation of pleasure.
- Keep Monday short. I schedule a light day on Mondays. This makes it much easier to face them. I can tell myself, "I only have to last a few hours". I then work a much longer day on Tuesday, but on Tuesday I can face it.
- Keep Monday pleasant. Schedule pleasant tasks or favorite clients for Mondays. Move the dreaded staff meeting to Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. Delay unpleasant tasks until later in the week when you will feel more like facing them.
- Stay in the present. Buddhists believe that we live in our expectations. It is this expectation of Monday morning that leads to Sunday night dread. Live in the present don't let Monday spoil Sunday.
- Prepare for it. If you know you are going to face anxiety or sadness on Sunday night, plan something special. Stop in the middle of an exciting part in a movie or a book and save it for Sunday night. Prepare special comfort food. Have a special bath ritual and pamper yourself.
- Spend time with people you love. This makes the time you do have feel more fulfilling. Form a dinner group on Sunday nights. Have a family dinner. Get together with special friends.
- Return phone calls. Call family and friends and catch up on Sunday night. It takes your mind off the week ahead and keeps you in touch with people who nurture and support you.
- Get a jump on Monday. Do some of your Monday morning catch up work on Sunday night to make the Monday morning transition easier. Return business calls, answer emails, catch up on filing or paperwork.
- Leave Friday with a clean slate. Finishing your work on Friday and leaving a clean desk will make Monday morning easier to face.
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