It’s Sunday afternoon. The joy of the weekend is dwindling down and this week’s to-do list starts to creep into your head. Your mental list of emails, meetings, and assignments are piling up. Before you know it, you’re totally anxious and stressed about the week ahead. It’s the Sunday Scaries. We’ve all been there, but Sunday should be a day for rest and relaxation, not stress and anxiety. Don’t let your Sunday get hijacked by the Sunday Scaries. Here are three ideas for reclaiming that day to conquer the week ahead.
Plan, plan, plan
Before you head into the weekend, make yourself a plan. Friday afternoon or evening is a great time to sit down with your planner and schedule your tasks for the next week. Finish everything that you can on Friday, and then write next week’s assignments or other tasks under the “Assignments” section of your planner. You can also use this time to fill in your reminders, Quizzes/Exams/Papers/Projects, and your daily plan sections for the next week. You could even go a step further and make an hourly plan for tackling Monday or even Tuesday! Write down a schedule with time blocks to complete each task (and don’t forget to schedule in time for self care!).
Distance yourself from technology
Once you’ve composed a plan for the following week, it’s time to start treating your weekend like a real weekend. We’re all tempted to check our email or stay tuned into assignments and group projects over the weekend, but in order to get a true break, try disconnecting from technology for the weekend. Just checking an email or school-related text could lead to a rabbit hole of working and stressing for hours, when you should be enjoying your weekend. If you want to use social media over the weekend, we get that. Be sure to turn off all school or work related notifications on your phone and computer to give yourself a break from the stressful stuff.
Do a fun activity on Sunday
Treat your weekend like a real weekend and do something fun! Whether it’s learning a new recipe, taking an online class, or starting a new art project, do something that you wouldn’t normally do on a weekday. This habit will help you to differentiate your weekends from your weekdays, so that you can better focus on school and work during the week. You’ll feel recharged to dive into your assignments after taking some time for yourself. Many of our self-care suggestions could be applied here for optimal revitalization over the weekend, so be sure to check those out.
When it comes to enjoying your weekend, it’s more about your mindset than anything else. When you consider your weekend to be a true break from your week of school and other activities, you’ll feel recharged and ready to take on the upcoming week. Don’t give in to your Sunday Scaries by leaving your planning for Sunday night or Monday morning, reaching for your phone or computer, and wallowing in the misery of the end of the weekend all day. Instead, shift your mindset and your actions to plan ahead, disconnect from school-related technology, and treat yourself with a fun activity to change the Sunday Scaries into the Sunday Sunnies.
