The Sunday Scaries: Why the end of the weekend feels so hard. Here's how you can ease it

It’s Sunday - play is slipping away, and alternatively of enjoying nan past agelong of free time, a acquainted knot originates to form. Thoughts of unanswered emails, back-to-back meetings, and an already overwhelming to-do database creep in, clouding nan day.

That consciousness of dread you whitethorn person knowledgeable has a name: nan “Sunday Scaries”. While it whitethorn sound for illustration a throwaway phrase, nan subject shows it's much wide and superior than you mightiness think.

According to nan American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), astir 80 per cent of US adults opportunity they person trouble falling asleep connected Sundays compared to different nights. In Britain, a authorities study recovered that 67 per cent of adults regularly acquisition Sunday worry earlier nan workweek begins, rising to 74 per cent among 18-24-year-olds.

“Work stresses, deficiency of slumber and looming to-do lists” were nan astir communal triggers, nan AASN said.

And nan consequences aren’t conscionable psychological. A 2025 study of older adults recovered that Monday-specific worry led to 23 per cent higher cortisol levels - nan body’s main stress hormone - sustained complete 2 months. Left unchecked, this tin worsen mental health, disturb slumber and moreover impact cardiovascular health.

Not conscionable group who dislike their jobs

"The Sunday Blues is rather an individual experience,” said Ilke Inceoglu, a professor of organisational behaviour and HR guidance astatine nan University of Exeter Business School, who has been starring a task connected nan phenomenon.

“For immoderate people, it’s conscionable for illustration a niggling emotion astatine nan backmost of their mind connected Sundays. But for others, it really has a large impact. They consciousness anxiety, dread, and they’re not disposable to prosecute successful immoderate activities pinch their friends aliases family connected Sunday evenings. It tin besides impact their sleep," she told Euronews Health.

Her investigation challenges immoderate of nan assumptions we whitethorn person astir Sunday anxiety. "It’s not conscionable related to occupation satisfaction,” she said.

“Of course, if you do not for illustration your job, yes, you don’t look guardant to going backmost to activity connected Monday, truthful that is 1 group. But there’s besides a group of group who really emotion their occupation and they’re passionate astir it, and they still acquisition nan Sunday Night Blues aliases Sunday Night Scaries".

Her squad surveyed astir 600 group and conducted in-depth interviews pinch 33 labor to understand nan “Sunday Night Blues.” The findings recovered that 79 per cent of group reported that they presently acquisition nan Sunday Night Blues aliases person knowledgeable it successful nan past.

More specifically, 37.3 per cent said they were presently affected, while different 42 per cent had knowledgeable it before. Interestingly, location were nary awesome gender differences successful prevalence, but younger group were overmuch much apt to study Sunday nighttime anxiety.

“We recovered that location was a narration pinch age,” Inceoglu added.

“The older you are, nan little apt you are to acquisition nan Sunday Night Blues. It seems that erstwhile you person gone done different profession stages, you conscionable person benignant of a different measurement of looking astatine work”.

The 'fresh hell' of Monday mornings

Dr Audrey Tang, a BPS Chartered Psychologist and writer of The Leader’s Guide to Wellbeing, argues that nan unease is often much astir unpredictability than simply disliking activity itself.

"While 1 mightiness presume that it is simply a dread of activity itself - I would propose that it often relates to nan chartless surrounding what whitethorn hap erstwhile backmost astatine nan desk… alternatively than a slow commencement location is almost a emotion of hitting nan crushed running, and a interest pinch ‘what caller hellhole will deed maine today... and tin I woody pinch it!?" she told Euronews Health.

The COVID-19 pandemic and nan emergence of distant and hybrid activity blurred nan lines betwixt workspace and relaxation space, worsening nan problem.

“Unfortunately, we tin go conditioned to feelings created wrong our environment,” Tang said. “So, for example, if moving connected nan bed, you statesman to subordinate that abstraction pinch thinking, aliases worry astir work… and past successful that abstraction trying to sleep, nan aforesaid feelings tin appear”.

Coping pinch nan scaries

While immoderate group whitethorn request master thief if Sunday worry is terrible aliases persistent, some Inceoglu and Tang propose applicable ways to easiness its impact.

Inceoglu recommends protecting Sundays by readying something.

“Sunday nighttime could beryllium a cinema nighttime pinch friends. There’s a batch of evidence, for instance, that exercise, societal interaction, hobbies - each these things are bully for you and managing anxiety," she said.

Managers whitethorn besides person a domiciled to play.

“Managers tin thief by not sending emails complete nan weekend, aliases by rethinking Monday greeting meetings. Some innovative organisations are asking: do we really request to person these first point connected Monday? Why not move them to Tuesday and springiness group clip to easiness into nan week?”

Tang, meanwhile, stresses small, manageable changes.

“I would propose physically separating activity abstraction from relaxation abstraction - moreover closing nan doorway to nan location office, aliases covering aliases moving nan laptop if moving successful nan room aliases chamber erstwhile you are done”.

She added: “If you cannot impact nan workplace tasks themselves, alternatively attraction connected what you tin power - person your clothing group retired for nan week, aliases person your luncheon prepared.

"For some, taking clip to meditate aliases do immoderate ray workout tin beryllium effective… for others it mightiness beryllium taking those mindful moments erstwhile we tin - stopping to attraction connected what we are doing/being coming erstwhile we are eating, aliases pinch family, aliases having a cup of beverage - but this is an progressive prime we person to make earlier it tin go a habit," she said.

When Sunday dread goes excessively far

For most, Sunday worry is an unpleasant but manageable portion of moving life. But for others, it tin beryllium terrible capable to power awesome decisions. A Resume.io study of 1,000 Americans recovered that 20 per cent of Gen Z respondents had really discontinue a occupation because of nan Sunday Scaries, and astir half said they had considered it.

That statistic whitethorn sound extreme, but it reflects really profoundly anticipatory accent tin style our lives. For some, it points to an underlying dissatisfaction pinch activity that needs addressing, for others, it is simply a motion of unrealistic expectations of themselves aliases unsustainable workloads.

Ultimately, nan Sunday Scaries whitethorn ne'er vanish entirely. But knowing them arsenic much than conscionable a “silly” aliases “cute” building - a operation of psychology, biology, and workplace civilization - whitethorn beryllium nan first measurement successful tackling them.

As Inceoglu puts it: “It could beryllium a reflection that you’re not happy successful your job, but it could besides beryllium a reflection that you person very precocious self-expectation astir what you do astatine work. And it could besides beryllium an opportunity to deliberation astir reaching retired to your head and having a speech astir workload prioritisation”.

And maybe, conscionable maybe, reclaiming our Sundays.