Weekends are the BEST – I think we can all agree on that. I love to make plans for what I’m going to do and accomplish with my two days off, whether it be seeing a show with my mom, a weekend trip to Alabama, or literally just staying in my pjs and reading all day long. But it’s the weekend and I can do what I want! No matter how fantastic the days went or how rested I feel, a knot always starts forming in my stomach at about 5pm on Sunday. Dread that the weekend is over, anxiety at my seemingly insurmountable to-do list for the week, and all-around irrational “down” feeling. It doesn’t happen every single week, but it happens to most of us enough that it now has its own name – the “Sunday scaries”.
Even if you’ve never heard of the term “Sunday scaries”, you’ve probably felt some form of disappointment at the end of the weekend and/or stress as you start in on another busy week at work or school. I feel this all too often, so I’ve been trying to slowly build rhythms and routines into my weekends to combat this weird, not fun feeling and head into the week with a fresh mindset and a positive outlook!
1. Start Sunday Morning Off Right
I always start my Sunday mornings off by letting myself sleep in and heading to church! The church service I attend starts at 10:30, so I have plenty of time to get up and have a quiet morning before I’m out the door (OR sleep really late and rush around to make it out the door just in time for the worship to start because I’m an adult who still has no concept of how long it takes me to get ready in the mornings)! I love being able to meet up with friends, grab some coffee, and learn more about Jesus to start off my day!
2. Plan Out Your Clothes
This is something that I just started doing in the last couple of months, but it saves me SO much time and stress during the week, and it helps me feel like I have my life together on Sundays. I spend 15-20 minutes on Sunday afternoons in my closet, planning each outfit that I will wear to work that week down to the earrings and shoes. I pull it all out and set it together so I literally just have to get out of bed and go in the mornings. Putting outfits together is something that I seriously love and enjoy already, so this is a fun Sunday task, but it also helps me get prepared for the week ahead!
3. Make Plans With A Friend
I’m a major homebody, so if I’m not uber-intentional about making plans with my friends, it’ll never happen. I hate to admit that, but I just love being at home and sometimes I just don’t think about actually making plans until the last minute. When I think ahead and make dinner plans at the beginning of the week, it gives me something to look forward to, and it also helps me in planning out my week!
4. Sit Down With Your Calendar
Like planning ahead with friends, I like to sit down with my planner so I can see all of my work and personal events in one place. This helps so much when it comes to preparedness and making sure I have time for what’s important! For example, if I know that I have an important meeting at work on Wednesday, I know that I need to be more dressed up that day, and if I see that book club is on Tuesday, then I’ll know I need to workout in the morning instead of after work, because I’ll be there late catching up with everyone! I like to know what’s coming, because like I said, I’m a homebody, so I also want to make sure I have a little bit of downtime scheduled in, as well.
5. RELAX
You can prepare, prepare, prepare all day long, but what really helps me on Sundays is taking time to relax and go to bed early. I have a chair in the corner of my room next to a window. It’s piled with cozy blankets and books and I could stay there all day long. Reading automatically calms me down, so this is an activity that is perfect for when I’m feeling just a little stressed out. I’m also a huge candle fan and I love taking baths. So put all three together and I’m in HEAVEN. That’s really how I like to end every single Sunday to ensure maximum preparedness (lol).
But in all seriousness, Sundays are a day of rest and a day to spend time with Jesus and your people. The Sunday scaries are real for me, and so I’ve tried to create some small, easy routines to give me peace of mind going into a new week, but make sure you leave some time for rest and quiet. There will always be a new week, Sunday is always going to end, and Monday is always going to come back around.
How do you beat the Sunday blues? What are your Sunday or weekend routines that help you start your week off on the right foot?
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