Sunday is hands-down the most underappreciated day of the week.
Want to sleep in? Do it on Sunday.
Go out for brunch? Do it on Sunday.
Vow to get your life together? You already know.
Ah, we’ve made it to Sunday evening. Monday is just a few hours away.
Monday is just a few hours away. 😧
This unsettling and unwanted spoilsport is called the Sunday Scaries. It’s the anxiety we feel when the return of school or work is near.
The Sunday Scaries makes us hate the workweek’s start because our cherished two days off with zero obligations is over.
Can we honestly agree that our two days off are enjoyable? There’s a whole list (uhh somewhere) of tasks and false promises we’ve made to ourselves from the week before, dying to get some attention. 😅
We place the responsibility to recharge AND be productive on Sundays.
To be fair, it’s not our fault. Our work week is automatically set up for routine because we allow no fun Monday through Friday.
So let’s seriously ask ourselves: how can we BANISH Sunday Scaries once and for all?
Bear with me… I suggest the best time to prepare for Monday’s impending arrival is after your last meeting and before happy hour on a Friday.
The Power of Intentional Planning on Friday
Now you might be thinking, how dare she propose this dull task on a Friday?!
Trust me when I say I don’t suggest this lightly. There’s a secret power of intentional planning on Friday that is extraordinary. 💫
The secret? You will be so much more productive! How often are we already in weekend mode on Friday, just waiting for time to pass by?
Fine, I’ll say it… just before lunch when I can count down the hours on one hand.
These are just a few reasons why you should plan for the following week on Friday:
- There’s time to tie up loose ends that shouldn’t carry over to next week
- You’re not reacting to pressure by cramming everything into a tight schedule for the sake of “getting things done”
- The Sunday Scaries do not care if the football game runs into overtime or if Netflix purposely dropped a new season of your favorite true crime show
That last reason alone should put things into perspective. 👏🏼
5 Steps to Overcome the Sunday Scaries
So how do we intentionally plan? And doesn’t the word plan instinctively mean with intention?
Not necessarily. Because if you’re anything like me, you’ve adopted many, many, planning systems that end up failing within weeks of starting.
Enter: .
This powerful productivity platform will not only cut down your time spent on planning but will help you stick to your ideal schedule. With , you can organize both your work and personal lists in one place!
Home gives you a panoramic view of all your tasks and reminders:
- Need all your important tasks top of mind? Drag and drop tasks into the LineUp™️
- Get organized with what’s on your plate for: today, overdue, next, and scheduled with My Work
- Instantly sync with your Google calendar for an hour-by-hour view. Then, check off those tasks and reminders directly from the Agenda!
Now that we’ve set the stage for our Friday planning sesh, let’s talk about the five steps to overcoming the Sunday Scaries. All it takes is 30-minutes at the end of your day.
Shall we put this into practice? Set that timer, and let’s go! ⏲
1. Reflect on the current week
Before we set ourselves up for next week’s success, it’s important to evaluate how life’s going so far. For this reflection, ’s Template feature comes in clutch to write and save reflection questions for future planning sessions.
Some questions I recommend to start:
- Were there any exciting challenges this week?
- What tasks or meetings took more time than intended?
- What mental clutter can I remove?
- What did I stumble on that might affect next week?
- How can I start next week on the right path?
2. Write a daily goal for each workday
Now there’s a small caveat to this step I have to address because it’s essential to strive for balance. ⚖️
This goal has to be EASY, but not like “get out of bed” easy.
The purpose of this daily goal should help you make progress towards your bigger life goals. You could build your entire day around this daily goal. It gets you focused on the right path. 🙌🏼
’s Goal feature helps you plan, manage, and track your progress by linking tasks and Lists to your goals.
Easily manage your progress by linking tasks and Lists to your Goals
3. Schedule fun activities throughout the week
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Five days for fun potential.
And yet, we deny these days this privilege! Here are some activity suggestions to get you going:
- Sporting event
- Open mic night
- Comedy club
- Game night with friends
- Creative online class
- Shopping at a local district
- Outdoor concert
- Pet play dates
- Leisurely stroll through your neighborhood when the sky has the perfect warm glow
Starting next week, promise me you’ll add some fun. 🙏🏼
Whether you want to do these activities alone or with friends and family, the intent is not to make your busy days even busier but to break away from the mundane work week.
Make it an activity you’ll look forward to. There’s a difference between a “commitment” and “retail therapy.” 😉
Sidebar: If you need to jot down any ideas for cool hangout spots or save links to local events, try the Notepad in . Whether you’re browsing through other web pages or inside the platform, your ideas will be with you anywhere you go!
I won’t get into the game-changing Chrome Extension… we’ll save that for another Friday. That timer is still ticking! 👀
Quickly bookmark links to save for later in the Chrome Extension
4. Block at least 30 minutes each day for learning
I can feel your eyes start to turn, but you already do this if you think about it!
Do you listen to podcasts? Or read articles about improving productivity? Maybe get lost in the YouTube atmosphere?
Rather than scrolling mindlessly through content that isn’t beneficial to your overall health, carve out some time to learn about exciting topics.
Our access to a massive digital library is just waiting to be tapped into in today’s modern world. 💡
Remember the Notepad I mentioned before? Save text excerpts and other nuggets of information you want to come back to later!
5. Plan one thing to do over the weekend
Now we come full circle to the weekend: these two days should not be bothered with what’s to come on Monday.
If you experience fatigue during the weekend, it might be because you don’t have a healthy balance between physical activities and technology.
Do something productive that challenges you to get out of your comfort zone. What’s that one thing you’ve talked yourself out of because you’re focusing on what could go wrong instead of what could go right?
The weekend is perfect for this because you have zero obligations. It’s your sandbox to create new memories during your leisure time! 😎
Check out our guide on reducing workplace anxiety 💜
Begone, Sunday Scaries!
And there you have it: your five-step guide to overcome the Sunday Scaries.
With a few key shifts in planning your upcoming week, you’ll never have to sacrifice your Sunday evenings again. Sign up for today, and happy planning!
We still have a few minutes left on our timer; interested in mending your relationship with Monday too?
I’ll let Mandy take it from here. 🎙
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
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