Do You Suffer from the Sunday Blues?

Depending on what source you look at, it seems that somewhere between 60 to 80 percent of us are affected by the Sunday blues. Whether you know them as the Sunday blues, the Sunday scaries, or anticipatory anxiety, this phenomenon occurs when our mind begins to drift to the week ahead, typically focusing on the negative aspects of what lies ahead.

Negative thoughts could be about the mountain of work to be done; the imminent deadline on a project that seems far from completion; a conversation that you expect will be challenging; a workweek wrought with back-to-back meetings; or something else entirely. The data suggests that for most their minds begin ruminating on these thoughts somewhere between 2 and 6 pm.

Not only does this detract from your enjoyment of your weekend, it also diminishes your energy as you prepare to head into the week. For some, it even interferes with their sleep pattern. So, you’re walking into Monday tired and apprehensive. Isn’t that just how we all want to start our week?

What to do about this, though? Here are 3 tips that have worked with my clients:

1. Formally close your week — Set aside a bit of time at the end of the workweek, my clients typically set aside 30 minutes to an hour at the end of the day on Friday to wrap up the week. This might include reviewing notes taken throughout the week to make sure you’ve captured all of the items you need to do or follow-up on; reviewing the week ahead to be sure you’re prepared for (or at least have a plan to prepare for) the meetings and deadlines of the week; tackle any of those items that can quickly be taken care of (one way to think about this is the two-minute rule from David Allen’s Getting Things Done book. If it’ll take you less than 2 minutes, just do it). The idea here is that you will leave your workspace on Friday with a very clear idea of what you need to get done next week.
2. Keep a running list — Over the weekend, as thoughts come to you, jot them down. This can be a paper list or an electronic one. Some of my clients even save voice memos to themselves. They find this a faster way for them to more fully convey the thought. They also find that as they get into the habit of formally closing their week, these random thoughts become less and less. The purpose of having this list is so that you can get it out of your head and stop worrying about whether you’ll remember it. Once you know you’ve captured it, you can move on, knowing that you’ll return to it on Monday.
3. Set your week up for success — Block the first 30 minutes to an hour on Monday morning. This allows you to incorporate those ideas that came to you over the weekend; to check your organization’s communication channels to see if there is anything you need to be aware of or address; prepare for the week and, as discussed above, tackle any of those items that can quickly be taken care of.

If you must check your organization’s communication channels over the weekend (whether because the company requires it or you feel compelled to), try and limit the time you are spending on it. One way to do this is to allow yourself 30 minutes on Saturday and 30 minutes on Sunday. Again, use the guidelines above. If you can take care of it quickly, just do it. If you cannot, make a note to address it on Monday.

If prioritizing is challenging for you, I might suggest looking at this blog on the Eisenhower Matrix.

How do you prevent the Sunday blues?