This is a common phenomenon for many of us. It really doesn’t matter what your role is at work, school or life Sunday nights for most of us mark the end of the weekend and the realization that our “work” week is about to reset. Weekends are, for most of us a reprieve from dealing with work. Work is one of the biggest stressors for most Americans as well as school for kids.
Like most people I have a moderate amount of stress at my job. Let me put it this way, in my life there are 6-10 people (the list changes from time to time, LOL) of people whom I really care about and really love. These are the people whom I consider critical, meaning at 2AM if I get a call from one of these people for help, I spring up and go to help. Siblings, Parents, Spouses, Children these are the people that fall into this category for me. I have friends, but I don’t have many good friends. Frankly most of the people outside of direct family, for me are acquaintances.
How does this pertain to work? For me none of those people work at the same company I do. I use this tool as often as I can to coax myself into a mental space where I can say “I don’t really care what they think”. Of course that’s a lie, and with someone who has anxiety one of the drivers of the anxiety is what other people think. It’s hard to explain, as I don’t find myself looking for or needing validation from strangers but like many I concern myself with the judgements of others.
The Sunday night blues can really run the gambit of anxiety triggers as everyone is different. You might be worried about the traffic you have to sit in. Maybe you have a meeting with a new client, maybe your boss is less than spectacular or maybe you just dislike work to the point where it’s become a mental strain for you to carry on in your role. I’ve found myself staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night thinking about things I can’t control at work. This happens to me more so on a Sunday night because I am thinking of everything I need to do that week.
Many people face this reality, and there is very little help anyone blog post can provide you. Take heart in the knowledge that you aren’t alone, many people have this issue. Most of what plagues us are things we can’t control and governed by other people. There are things you can do, I find that Sunday afternoon I prepare food for the week, get work suits ready, make a list of things to do.
Here is a great article of a few things you can do that might help you with the Sunday blues: /
The worst part is (or maybe it’s the best) that often the scope of what you are worried about never comes to fruition. I know, “don’t spend time worrying about things you can’t control” yes, I know that’s the goal for all of us who are battling anxiety. The Sunday night blues are real for millions of people, next Sunday let’s try and mitigate this a little. I’m going to work on establishing a routine that will help me prepare for the work week ahead. Maybe a half hour of work prep will make me feel less anxious I don’t know.
