Sunday Night Blues

29th October 2017

Is it possible to avoid the sinking feeling and overwhelming shadow of the week ahead?

Do you suffer from the Sunday night blues?

Maybe you are lucky enough to have a job that you love and look forward to going back to work. Perhaps your children have exhausted you to the point that you are secretly looking forward to sitting on the morning commute. For many, however, Sunday night is a reminder that a five-day stretch of work is about to begin. The daily commute, the long meetings that you dread each week, traffic jams and exhaustion – work can be challenging in many ways.

How can we banish the Sunday blues? Sunday night may be the time when you end up daydreaming about leaving your job, a total career change or selling up and travelling round the world. The reality is that for most of us we cannot sell up and travel for the rest of our lives so how can we make our Sunday nights better? What can we do to change how we feel?

Play to your strengths

Each person has their own reasons for having that feeling of dread that starts on a Sunday. It could be the job itself, not liking the person that you sit next to in the office, the train strike the following day or simply feeling tired and not being able to think positively. Whatever the cause, you can help yourself feel better by fostering a feeling that things are more or less under control. Clean clothes, healthy food in the fridge, meals planned – all of these things help make our days run more smoothly, which will in turn increase our happiness. Avoiding scheduling any meetings for first thing Monday morning is also a good idea.

Avoid the temptation to sit down on a Sunday and try to get ahead with work. No one can ever be that far ahead, and everyone needs a good break in their week to avoid burnout. There are enough other days to work hard. Embrace the Sunday night feeling. Meditate, practise yoga, have a hot bath and nurture yourself. Make Sunday a day to reflect and be kind to yourself.

Ideas for discovering Sunday night joy

Online focus

Take part in online challenges such as 30 photos in 30 days on social media: an opportunity to look at what makes you happy. You can create a lovely reference to life any low moments.

Friday finish

Before finishing work on Friday, set aside time to plan ahead for the following week. Create a Monday to-d0 list, tag emails, line up necessary resources. Consider how good having a plan will feel.

Saturday switch

Switch your Saturday to Sunday. We typically plan our fun activities for a Saturday and leave the more mundane tasks for a Sunday. Flip it round and spot the difference. Does it make the weekend feel longer?

Sunday plans

Plan little treats throughout the day. Have your main meal at dinnertime, rather than lunchtime. A Sunday roast round a table with family or friends can brighten our moods significantly.

Gratitude journal

Start a gratitude journal and, at the end of each day, write down and remind yourself of what you have been grateful for. On a Sunday night, give yourself a little lift by reading though the last week’s entries.

Sunday night ritual

Give yourself a new ritual for a Sunday night – it could be heading to a yoga class or a family movie night. Keep this up every week and you will have something to look forward to.

This is an excerpt from Washing Up is Good for You from Department Store for the Mind. The author of this chapter is Kate Peers of Mad About the Boys.

Illustrated images and photographic images