So, what exactly are the Sunday Scaries, and what causes them?
As your long-awaited, and hard-earned weekend comes to an end you start thinking about Monday. Your to-do list spins around your head like a tiny tornado wiping out all signs of relaxation. That’s how we define Sunday Scaries symptoms. The Cleveland Clinic, uses a slightly more clinical definition “Sunday scaries are feelings of intense anxiety and dread that routinely occur every Sunday.”
This anxiety is generally associated with returning back to the stress of work, school or other professional obligations. It can derail your weekend, impact your sleep and is quite simply, not conducive to a stress-free and healthy mindset. We all need, and all deserve, our weekends to be a stress-free time that supports work-life balance. Weekends are a time to reset, a time to focus on yourself, friends and family. It’s a time to embrace the Sunday Scaries cure so you can pursue your passions, disconnect, and embrace simplicity and balance.
If you find yourself in a Sunday Scary routine, here are 5 simple ways you can break the cycle.
- Turn off Emails
While it may seem like a difficult task for some, getting into the habit of turning off your emails for the weekend can be an easy step toward a scare-free Sunday. By separating work from your personal life (and personal time), you can allow your mind to focus on whatever matters most to you.
- Resist the Urge to Reply
You have your email off now but with today's technology, there are so many ways to connect. With calls, texts, Slacks, Teams and everything in between, escaping work can feel nearly impossible. Unless the situation is an immediate emergency, try resisting the urge to reply until Monday morning.
- Practice Self-Care
The weekend is your time to relax and recharge. Take a few hours to practice your favorite self-care activity. Go for a walk. Spend time in the garden. Meet up with friends. Bake with the family. No matter your work situation, it’s important to prioritize your mental and physical health.
- Develop a New Routine
If your typical Sundays have you more stressed than relaxed, plan a new Sunday and rethink the routine! Take a few minutes to plan out a fun day. Exploring new hobbies can help you change your mindset of Sundays so that you have a more rewarding day to look forward to. And if you didn’t get to what you planned, that’s okay! Healthline urges you to practice “self-compassion” by focusing on what you did do, rather than what you missed.
- Recharge Your Mondays
Try adding a special treat to kick off your Mondays like listening to your favorite artist on your way to work, getting your favorite coffee, or starting a simple office game. By incorporating some fun into your day, you can break up the monotony you might otherwise feel on a Monday full of meetings and give yourself a reason to celebrate rather than dread Monday.
You Deserve a Restful, Stress-Free Weekend
No matter what the week ahead looks like, we all deserve to enjoy a full weekend of rest and relaxation. By practicing simple steps like taking a walk or turning off your phone, you can create a better work-life balance that prioritizes your personal health and wellbeing.
At Clarity Benefit Solutions, we believe life is a journey; one that should be lived well. Our goal is to bring clarity into the challenging world of benefits and utilize benefits technology to simplify benefit administration, reduce costs and empower our customers.
With a full suite of consumer benefits, we offer reliable benefit administration solutions that ease pain points, provide clear direction, and lack unnecessary complexity. After all, simplicity is the key to living well. Simplicity is at the heart of our company and in the details of everything we do from championing National Simplicity Day to our Simply Smarter Approach to employee benefits. This mindset has led to thoughtful new ways for all of us to get the most out of our benefits packages and to ensure that people are ready for whatever comes their way.
Sources:
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/sunday-scaries/
https://www.healthline.com/health/sunday-scaries#be-kind-to-yourself
