So what is the Sunday Scaries? It is basically that butterfly / anxious feeling you get every Sunday, when thinking about your week ahead. Whether that’s to go back to school or work, or just facing any daunting tasks ahead of you. We all feel this at some point or another, so I’m going to be giving you my best tips on how to overcome the Sunday scaries.
Clean your space
The Sunday scaries is big on TikTok, and so is the Sunday reset. But it is actually helpful.
Cleaning your space can help you clear your mind and set you up for the week ahead of you.
It’s like a fresh start, and a chance to get rid off any negativity from the previous week, and make sure you don’t bring any of that negative energy into the week ahead.
Even if it’s just making your bed, or putting your clothes away, this can dramatically impact the chaos in your mind (at least for me anyway).
Your job, school, or whatever it is, might be stressful… so you don’t need the added stress of a messy house / room when you get back! How nice will it feel to have a clean, clutter free space for when you get back!!
Cleaning your space on Sundays also makes it more maintainable to keep clean throughout the week.
If you have a perfectly clean room or house, of course it’s never going to stay that clean, but it is easier to clean little messes after your day rather than a build up of mess from the week.
What I’m getting at, is it’s better to have little messes after everyday that you can quickly clean up, rather than having a massive pile of mess everywhere because let it build up.
(And I’m not saying Sunday has to be your big clean day – sometimes when I’m at work on Sunday, I can’t fully treat Sunday as my reset day, because I simply don’t have time)
Tip: I set a 5-10 minute timer every day and clean whatever I can within that time. It makes it easier because I know it’s only 5-10 minutes!
Clear your mind
Now that you have a clean space – your mind will feel a little less chaotic and cluttered.
So now you can focus on clearing your mind.
If you aren’t at work on Sundays, you don’t need to be worrying about work on Sundays. When you’re off work, try to be off work.
It’s happened to me before where I have been worrying about work when I’m off. Maybe looking through my emails, or reading through the work chat, and we need to stop doing this.
You are not getting paid to worry about work when you’re not at work.
When you’re off work, take this time for YOURSELF.
Things you can do to clear your head
- Journaling – If you have read any of my previous blog posts, you will know how much I love journaling, I couldn’t speak more highly of it.
- Meditation – honestly, I can only last 5 minutes, it is really difficult, but with more practice it will become easier. I’m sure I don’t even need to explain the benefits of meditation, it is just amazing for calming your mind and lowering stress!
- Spend time with your friends / family -this is a great way to clear your mind, by spending time with the people you love! You can fully be present and live in the moment, rather than worrying about the week ahead!
- Watch your favourite movie / tv show – Sundays are the perfect days to chill, take some time for yourself, and allow yourself to do all of the things you may feel bad about doing in the week (like actually resting – I’m guilty of this too).
- Read – reading is my absolute favourite thing to do. Not only does it get me off social media which makes my head hurt from scrolling addictively, but it allows you to fully escape and emerge yourself into another world. (I have a book recommendations page which I am always updating when I find worthy books to go on there! http://bigsisterera.com/book-recommendations/)
- Walk outside – Every time I go on a walk, I come back in a better mood. A lot of the time, especially for people who live here in the Uk, we are cooped up inside most of the day. So getting some fresh air will definitely boost your endorphins, and distract your brain with some nice scenery for a while!
- Hobbies – If you have any hobbies or activities that you really enjoy, take some time to enjoy the things you love!
Plan the week ahead
Although I do think that you should spend most of your weekend NOT thinking about work or school or anything stressful, I think it is beneficial to plan your week.
This will prevent you going into the new week feeling all over the place and stressed because you don’t know what’s going on, and you don’t know what you’re doing.
It is helpful for me to go into my week knowing exactly what I need to be doing, and knowing exactly where I am going to be.
Having your week all planned out really reduces stress and the Sunday scaries because you literally don’t have to think as much during the week about what you have to do, because you have it all in front of you ready to just tick off.
Think of this as revising for an exam. You take that time before to study, and you’ll still be nervous for the exam, but not as nervous as if you were to not study for your exam at all.
What to plan
- Plan what work you will be doing each day
- Plan your schedule
- Is there any meetings or important dates you need to mark in your calendar?
- Split your workload up throughout the week, so that you don’t feel overwhelmed
- Set small, achievable goals for every day of the week so that you feel accomplished
- You can even plan your hair wash days – literally plan everything so that you know what to expect in the week, and so that you don’t get overwhelmed.
Plan weekly treats
I saw a girl on TikTok write in her notes app little treats / fun things to do everyday, so that she could enjoy little moments everyday, and always romanticise her days.
These could be little things or big things (here’s an example):
- Monday: meeting up with a friend
- Tuesday: buy a sweet treat
- Wednesday: movie night
- Thursday: slow morning
- Friday: takeaway
- Saturday: buy a coffee / drink instead of making it
- Sunday: everything shower
Looking for little things to look forward to everyday, will reduce the amount of Sunday scaries you have, by allowing you to focus on good things.
Doing this has personally helped me so much, I am juggling uni work, my blog, and a part time job, as well as having a life, which has been very overwhelming and stressful, especially recently being so close to finishing uni.
Picking at least 1 thing everyday to look forward to has helped me so much in being able to keep waking up everyday without as much worry, because I get to focus on the good things in the day.
It also allows you to plan joyous things into your life, rather than always focusing on planning the boring or stressful uni or work things.
Have an everything shower
If I have time, I will try and have an everything shower. That includes pre oiling my hair, washing my hair, washing my body (obvs lol), shaving and moisturising.
Doing this is literally like a physical fresh start. And if you pair that with fresh sheets and fresh pj’s, are you kidding me!?!?! HEAVEN.
Going into the new week feeling fresh is such a good confidence boost and reset.
It’s basically science (in my mind) that if you feel confident, you are more productive.
Things to do to make you feel more confident:
- Everything shower
- Fake tan if you want to
- Plan your favourite outfits for the week
- Face mask to get your skin feeling amazing
- Paint your nails
- Style your hair so you don’t have to think of it as much during the week
I have a blog post about how to be low maintenance but look high maintenance that would be so good to read if you’re wanting to feel more confident throughout the week! (http://bigsisterera.com/how-to-look-high-maintenance/)
Look at the wider perspective
You just need to remember, no uni course, job, whatever it is, is worth more than you and your mental health.
Just have the mindset of ‘it’s really not that deep’ ‘we’re on a floating rock and I’m worrying about my uni???’
Once you put things into perspective, things get easier.
If you look back at something 5 years ago that you were stressing about, say your GCSE’s, look at how insignificant they are now.
I would have major anxiety over my driving lessons and driving test, and I have been passed nearly a year now and I don’t even think of them anymore. Something that once consumed all of my thoughts and determined whether I had a bad or a good week, is now so insignificant and distant to me now, that I don’t even think about it.
So just look at what you’re worrying about, and think, in 5 years time, maybe even in 1 months time, will I be worrying about this still? Probably not.
So breathe… you’ve got this. Everything is going to work out, and everything is going to be fine.
Thank you for reading <3
I hope this post helped you dealing with the Sunday scaries. It has been as much for you, as it was for me, because I am guilty about worrying about insignificant things, and feeling overwhelmed on Sundays looking at the week ahead.
If anyone has any other tips on how to deal with the Sunday scaries then do make sure to leave it in the comment section so we can all help each other! <3
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