Read This Every Sunday: The Ultimate Guide to Tackling the Sunday Scaries
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Once a week, you feel that icky dread that creeps up around 2pm on your Sunday afternoon. You start to realize that your weekend is almost over, and yet another week at work is approaching. Anxiety, frustration, dread clouds over the remainder of your day with the looming week ahead. You’re experiencing the Sunday scaries. I created this ultimate guide for you to tackle the Sunday scaries. This is for you to listen to every sunday until your sundays feel like a day you can look forward to. These recommendations are purely that — recommendations. They are not all for everyone. Some might resonate with you on different Sundays and some on other Sundays. The intention is to ease your scaries, not worsen them. Always take what resonates, leave what doesn’t.
1) Your Sunday can be whatever you need it to be.
Your Sunday can be your rest day, your errand day, your socializing day, or whatever else you need your Sunday to be this week. Maybe you examine where your life feels a little out of balance and remedy that on Sunday. If you’ve been extra social this week, maybe your Sunday is a day to recover. Set your intention for what is left of your Sunday and surrender to what you need. Whether you need rest, self-care, a workout, grocery shopping, a social event, do not beat yourself up over what you should have done instead. Your Sunday is perfect just as it is.
2) Plan a weekly ritual.
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that my Sunday mornings at the farmers market are a weekly routine that I live for. I also love to take a pole dancing class on Sunday afternoons and move my body in my favorite way. I notice myself looking forward to Sundays because of my Sunday routine. Find a small ritual or routine that you love doing on Sundays that can reinvigorate your love for Sundays. Sunday is 50% of your weekend, so make it special for yourself!
3) Do one thing to ease the scaries.
If you’re stressed about your upcoming week, is there something you can do that eases the stress? Making a quick to-do list to see your week laid out in front of you can reassure yourself that you can do it. If something about your week feels daunting, take five minutes to write down how you want to prepare for that task whether it be actual physical work or your mindset around it. That task is usually not as grand as we make it out to be, but the Sunday scaries amplifies our fear.
4) Check in with your cycle.
If you have a menstrual cycle, check in on your cycle-tracking app to see where you’re at in your cycle. If you are in your follicular or ovulation phase this week, maybe you can schedule a social outing for all your high energy. If you’re approaching luteal or menstruation, it is likely you’ll feel more dread during these phases especially on Sunday. Tune into what your body needs during this time and you could even track how you feel on each Sunday and where you’re at in your cycle at that time. You could blame some variation of Sunday scaries on your hormone fluctuations.
5) Check in with your body.
On that note, this is the perfect day to check in with your body. People are less likely to bother you on a Sunday, so this is “you” time. Cook a nourishing meal, take a nap, or take a walk. Our bodies might be exhausted from doing whatever you were doing over the weekend. This is the perfect day to tune back into your body and its needs. Cooking a nourishing meal, meal prepping (if that’s your thing), taking a walk in nature, or taking a midday nap all can recharge you like a character in a video game. If you’re feeling the scaries because of last night, going out or drinking, reassure yourself that you probably need sleep and a nourishing meal to recenter your brain. If you think everyone hates you, you need sleep. If you hate everyone, you need a nourishing meal. If you hate the world, you need a quick moment outside in nature. Our bodies are relatively simple when it comes to these quick remedies.
6) Journal.
I’m not the biggest fan of journaling these days, but hear me out. Imagine journaling any fears, doubts, reservations, sadness you have on that Sunday and getting it all out on paper. Maybe you do this multiple Sundays in a row and realize that journaling can be a release for you. Or maybe you see look back on past journal entries and see all the things you were worried about and recognize that you got through it all and you’re more resilient than you think. Could be cool.
7) Check in with a friend or family member.
Sundays can feel a little lonely, especially if you’re feeling the scaries. You may feel like the only person with the scaries, but trust me when I say you’re not alone. Talk to a friend, a family member, your dog and just talk about your weeks and what you’re looking forward to.
8) Look forward to something in your week.
Even if it’s just the upcoming Friday, remember that you can always look forward to something coming up for you. It’s not going to be Sunday forever. If you don’t have any plans, make something you can look forward to that week. Even just a coffee date with yourself on Thursday morning.
9) Stay off social media as much as possible.
Turns out seeing everyone else having the best Sunday ever while you feel dread about yours is not good for your mental health. Witnessing everyone living their best lives or strangers telling you how you should do everything you do differently can add more stress than ease your stress. The alternative to looking at a screen and scrolling through something is reading a Kindle book. At the very least, close social media for the day. Trust me.
10) Prepare for Monday morning.
Monday mornings will feel significantly easier when you have set yourself up for success. I typically like to set up my workout clothes, fill my ice trays, put my coffee beans in the grinder, pick my workout for Monday morning, plan my breakfast so that everything on my Monday morning feels smooth and I start my week feeling good.
Final thoughts:
Remember that there is nothing in your week or your Sunday that you cannot handle. Your Sunday is perfect and exactly as it is meant to be. Make your Sunday yours and take it as an opportunity to check in with yourself and give your body and mind what it needs. You got this.
