The Sunday Scaries Cure: Practical Routines to Reduce Work Anxiety

It's 4pm on Sunday. You've had a perfectly good weekend. And then it hits: the creeping dread about Monday morning. Your stomach tightens. You start mentally reviewing your calendar. You feel the weight of the upcoming week pressing down on you.

Welcome to the Sunday scaries—that specific brand of anticipatory anxiety that ruins the last few hours of your weekend and makes Monday morning even worse.

I dealt with this for years. Every Sunday afternoon felt like standing at the edge of a cliff. I'd try to ignore it by distracting myself with TV or errands, but the anxiety would just build until I went to bed dreading the alarm clock.

The usual advice—"just meditate!" or "practice gratitude!"—never worked for me. What actually helped were specific, tactical routines that addressed the root causes of Sunday anxiety.

Let me show you what actually works.

Why Sunday Scaries Happen (And Why They're Worse for Some People)

Sunday scaries aren't just "being dramatic about Monday." There's actual psychology behind it.

It's Anticipatory Anxiety

Your brain is trying to prepare you for Monday by running simulations of everything that could go wrong. Difficult meetings. Looming deadlines. Emails you haven't answered. Conflicts you need to resolve.

This isn't helpful preparation—it's just anxiety dressed up as productivity.

The Transition Feels Abrupt

On Friday at 5pm, you shift from "work mode" to "weekend mode." On Sunday night, you have to shift back, and your brain resists that transition.

The bigger the contrast between your weekend self and your work self, the harder the transition feels.

You're Dreading Loss of Control

On weekends, you control your time. On Monday, your calendar controls you. The Sunday scaries are often mourning the loss of that autonomy.

When Sunday Scaries Are a Red Flag

If your Sunday anxiety is so severe that you:

Have physical symptoms (nausea, panic attacks, insomnia)
Can't enjoy any of Sunday because of dread
Feel this way every single week without exception

...the problem isn't your Sunday routine. The problem is your job. These tactics will help, but consider whether this level of anxiety is sustainable long-term.

📊 Sunday Scaries Severity Check

How severe are your Sunday scaries? Rate each statement.

What Doesn't Work (And Why You Keep Trying It Anyway)

Before we get to what does work, let's clear out the advice that sounds good but fails in practice.

❌ "Just Don't Think About Work"

Ignoring your anxiety doesn't make it go away. It just postpones it until you're trying to fall asleep Sunday night.

Trying to suppress thoughts about Monday actually makes you think about it more (the "don't think about a pink elephant" problem).

❌ "Meditate for 20 Minutes"

Meditation helps some people. But if you're someone whose mind races during meditation, or if you've tried it multiple times and it never sticks, forcing yourself to meditate on Sunday evening just adds another thing to feel bad about.

Also, meditation doesn't address the actual causes of your Sunday anxiety—it just helps you tolerate it better.

❌ "Start Your Work Week on Sunday Night"

Some productivity advice suggests checking your email Sunday evening to "get ahead" or reviewing your Monday calendar to "feel prepared."

This doesn't reduce anxiety—it just brings Monday into Sunday. Now you're working two days instead of one.

❌ "Treat Yourself to Something Special"

A nice dinner or a relaxing bath might feel good in the moment, but it doesn't change the underlying anxiety. You're just temporarily distracting yourself.

There's nothing wrong with treating yourself, but it's not a solution to the Sunday scaries.

What Actually Works: Tactical Sunday Evening Routines

These aren't feel-good platitudes. These are specific actions that reduce the anticipatory anxiety by addressing its root causes.

Tactic 1: The 10-Minute Monday Prep (Friday Afternoon)

The best time to prevent Sunday scaries is actually Friday at 4:50pm.

Before you leave work Friday, spend 10 minutes setting yourself up for Monday:

Clear your inbox to zero (or close to it)
Write a short list of Monday's top 3 priorities
Tidy your desk or workspace
Close all browser tabs and apps

When you walk into work Monday morning, you're starting fresh instead of walking into Friday's chaos. This massively reduces Sunday anxiety because you already know Monday won't be a disaster.

Why this works:

Your Sunday scaries are often about the unknown. By creating a clean Monday morning setup on Friday, you remove that unknown. You're not dreading chaos—you're walking into a plan.

Tactic 2: The Sunday Shutdown Ritual

Create a specific routine that signals to your brain: "The weekend is over, work mode is beginning, but in a controlled way."

Example Sunday evening routine (6-7pm):

6:00pm: Lay out Monday's outfit and pack your bag
6:15pm: Check your Monday calendar (just to see what's happening, not to stress about it)
6:20pm: Write down your Monday morning intention: "Tomorrow I will focus on [one specific thing]"
6:25pm: Set your morning alarm and put your phone on the charger
6:30pm: Do something completely non-work: cook dinner, watch a show, go for a walk

This routine takes 30 minutes and creates a clear boundary between "preparing for Monday" and "enjoying Sunday evening."

Tactic 3: Move Your Body (Specifically, Sunday Afternoon)

Exercise on Sunday afternoon—before the scaries hit—is one of the most effective anxiety reducers.

Why 2-4pm specifically? Because that's when Sunday anxiety tends to start creeping in. If you're already moving, your nervous system stays regulated.

It doesn't have to be intense:

30-minute walk around your neighborhood
Quick gym session
Bike ride
Yoga or stretching

The point is to discharge some of that nervous energy before it builds into full anxiety.

Tactic 4: The "Brain Dump" List

If your mind is racing with Monday worries, write them all down. Everything you're anxious about, everything you need to do, every thought that's looping.

Then put the list somewhere you can't see it until Monday morning.

Why this works:

Your brain keeps cycling through anxious thoughts because it's afraid you'll forget something important. Writing it down signals "I've captured this, I don't need to keep rehearsing it." The physical act of putting the list away says "this is tomorrow's problem, not tonight's."

Tactic 5: Make Sunday Night Actively Different from Work Nights

If Sunday night feels identical to Monday-Thursday nights (same dinner routine, same evening activities), your brain can't distinguish weekend from weekday.

Make Sunday evening special in some small way:

Cook something you only make on Sundays
Watch a specific show that's "your Sunday show"
Call a friend or family member you don't talk to during the week
Do a hobby that you only do on weekends

This reinforces that Sunday is still part of your weekend, not the beginning of Monday.

Tactic 6: Go to Bed at the Same Time Every Night (Yes, Really)

Sunday scaries get worse when you're tired. And you're more likely to be tired on Sunday if you stayed up late Friday and Saturday.

The fix: Keep your bedtime within 60-90 minutes of your weekday schedule, even on weekends.

This doesn't mean going to bed at 10pm on Saturday night if you usually go to bed at 11pm on weekdays. But if you normally sleep 11pm-7am during the week, don't stay up until 2am on weekends. It wrecks your Sunday.

Sleep Consistency Matters More Than You Think

Irregular sleep schedules increase anxiety. When your body doesn't know when it's supposed to be awake vs. asleep, your stress response stays activated. Consistent sleep—even on weekends—helps regulate your nervous system.

Making Monday Morning Less Awful

Part of fixing Sunday scaries is making Monday morning actually tolerable. If every Monday is miserable, of course you'll dread it Sunday night.

Give Yourself Buffer Time

Don't schedule anything important for Monday before 10am if you can avoid it. Give yourself time to ease into the week.

Use Monday morning for:

Clearing email
Organizing your week
Catching up on Slack/messages
Easy, low-stakes tasks

Save the hard stuff for Tuesday when your brain is actually functional.

Build In Something to Look Forward To

Schedule something enjoyable for Monday:

Lunch with a coworker you actually like
Coffee from your favorite shop on the way to work
A specific task you find satisfying
Leaving early if your schedule allows

Doesn't have to be huge. Just something that makes Monday slightly less terrible.

Don't Check Email Before You Get to Work

If you check email from bed Monday morning, you're starting work while still lying down. Your brain never gets a clean start to the day.

Wait until you're at your desk. Let your Monday morning routine be about getting ready, commuting, and settling in—not immediately stressing about what's in your inbox.

When Routines Aren't Enough: Addressing the Real Problem

All of these tactics help. But they're treating the symptom, not the cause.

If you're doing all of this and still dreading Monday every single week, the issue isn't your Sunday routine—it's your job.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Is Sunday anxiety a recent development, or has it been happening for months/years?
Do I feel relief when I'm on vacation, or do I still feel anxious?
Am I dreading specific aspects of my job (my manager, certain meetings) or just the idea of working at all?
Would a different job in the same field fix this, or is it deeper than that?

If Sunday scaries are chronic and severe, that's often a sign of deeper issues:

You're burned out
Your job is misaligned with your values or interests
Your workplace is toxic
You're in the wrong career entirely

Sunday evening routines can make this more bearable. But they can't fix a fundamentally broken work situation.

If you've tried everything and still have severe Sunday scaries: That's data. Your body is telling you something is wrong. Listen to it.

Final Thoughts: You Deserve to Enjoy Your Whole Weekend

Sunday scaries are real, and they're exhausting. You shouldn't have to spend the last hours of your weekend dreading Monday.

Try the tactical routines:

Prep for Monday on Friday afternoon
Create a Sunday shutdown ritual
Move your body Sunday afternoon
Brain dump your worries and put the list away
Make Sunday night distinct from weeknights
Keep a consistent sleep schedule

These won't fix everything, but they'll reduce the intensity of Sunday anxiety so you can actually enjoy your weekend.

And if none of this helps, that's important information too. It might be time to look at the bigger picture.

Your weekends should be for recovery and enjoyment, not for dreading the week ahead.