4 Ways To Beat The Sunday Blues

If we could measure happiness with a thermometer, apparently our collective peak happiness occurs on Saturday night. Intuitively this could be because we’ve gotten some extra sleep, we’re having a fun evening out or even just catching up on rest or time with loved ones at home. If this is true, that means Sunday is when things staring heading downhill.

For those of us who don’t enjoy our work, the reason is obviously completely understandable. But even for those of us who love our jobs, or generally feel fulfilled by our careers, Sunday nights can be hard. So how do we beat the Sunday blues?

1. Make a decision to take off the full weekend.

It’s not to say you shouldn’t glance at your calendar on Sunday to make sure you don’t have a meeting or trip first thing Monday morning. We’re talking about minimizing the time you spend thinking about work when you should be maximizing your weekend head-space. Just because you physically have to go back to work the next day doesn’t mean you need to spend hours thinking about the week beginning on Sunday afternoon.

2. Use time on Friday afternoons to plan your agenda and set priorities for the coming week.

If you have to get prepared for the following week, consider reserving the last 30 minutes of your Friday afternoon to planning the week ahead rather than jump-starting your week on Sunday night when you ‘d rather be zonked out in front of your favorite Netflix series or having a long meal with friends or family. Friday afternoons can be quiet because people slip out of the office early for the weekend or simply pause on communicating matters until the following Monday.

3. Plan welcome diversions for yourself on Sunday.

Sometimes people make a lot of plans for Saturday, only to leave Sunday for the more banal and mundane things like running errands or preparing the family meal calendar for the week (though, hey, if that excites you, more power to you). It can be helpful to pepper “fun” more evenly throughout the weekend in order to move between the necessary things we all need to do in our weekends with activities that are more about pure rest or fun.

4. Go to bed early.

Especially if you’re someone with intense weekdays, trying to “pre-work” and move some of that load onto Sunday night can simply elongate the week. If you can’t help but make the psychological shift back to the workplace on Sunday night, you can at least make it less likely if you’re not conscious and awake – plus think of it this way.  That extra hour of sleep can really improve your productivity  on Monday morning!

Do you have any strategies for dealing with the Sunday blues? If so, share your advice and opinions with other women in our community.

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