Last night I was texting with a friend who said, “Got the Sunday Scaries!” when describing how her sunny, unseasonably warm Sunday was going.
I haven’t heard, or thought about that term for years..but I remember it so deeply. I remember how my anxiety would creep in the moment I
woke up on Sunday morning, my thoughts would be consumed with tomorrows email inbox during my morning workout, and by 2pm I would have already written off the day because I was so worried and unprepared for the week ahead. This cycle continued on and on and on, until one day I just had enough.
Before leaving my full time job to become a full time coach, I decided to change many things about the way I was handling and perceiving my work (many of which are likely coming in future blogs) and handling my Sunday Scaries was a big piece of that puzzle. I chose change my way of thinking and bring in practices that actually helped me enjoy the weekend and enter Monday feeling ready to go.
Here’s what I did…
First – I had to get really honest with myself. What was I doing? What was I saying about work? Who was I being? What time in the day was I noticing I shut down or turn off? What were my distractions? I needed to allow myself to see how I was actually in my own way.
Here’s what it looked like:
My mornings: I woke up each Sunday morning without an alarm, reached for my phone, spent 30 minutes “waking up” while scrolling through Instagram and personal emails, rolled to the couch, turned on the TV, and waited for 9:30am to come to head out the door for a 10am CrossFit Class.
I’d get home, shower, eat lunch, and allow my sore muscles to convince me to just sit down and return to Reality TV….(read…more avoiding).
Around 3 I would usually get up and start doing things around the apartment, prepping for the week ahead as much as I could, but the moment I would start focusing my mind would go to my work email (what is in there, what if there is an emergency, should I just check one email?, what if I open it but don’t read any…). This would go on and on, until I inevitably opened it up, allowed myself to feel angry, and before I knew it, it was 10am. Whether or not I actually acknowledged how this made me feel – it was clear. My mood would go down, as would the productivity and as you can guess, I would enter my 9-5 already dreading the week ahead (oh, and 15 minutes late).
Something had to change, and that something was me. The closer I looked at my habits, the more I realized how precious that morning time was for me. The status quo was that by 10am rolled around, I was in CrossFit, deep in my mental gymnastics of what I didn’t do, what emails would say, how I would feel about them, the works…
I needed to stop avoiding things and instead, make a decision and a plan that worked for me. I eventually decided enough is enough and needed to set a new set of rules for myself.
Here are the key rules I made that changed everything:
- No Instagram or Facebook first thing in the morning. If you need something to wake up with, open a book or an article – no comparison, no social media.
- No TV first thing in the morning. Get up, get moving, use the time pre CrossFit to get some stuff done so you actually ENJOY the workout (oh, and actually focus on it…)
- Use the time making lunch to also prepare some food for the week quickly
- Email is a choice. If you open your inbox, you are making a deliberate choice to do so, and therefore need to manage your emotions around it if you make that choice.
- ENJOY THE DAY. Once the “to-do’s” are done, Sundays are for you. If you choose to sit down and watch Below Deck for 4 hours, GREAT! If you want to do something else, ALSO GREAT! It is YOUR DAY. You choose. Choose and enjoy it.
The result? Well, for starters, I stumbled the first few weeks. I am human after all…but after a few more deliberate Sundays, Sunday Scaries drifted away and I started to enjoy my time more and more. Sometimes, I would set aside an hour or so to catch up on work emails, a nice cup of tea, and a timer on for only an hour, holding myself accountable. I also started to realize subtle things throughout my day that threw me off course like, a disgruntled look from someone I don’t know on the train. These small things didn’t need to matter anymore….
Do you have Sunday Scaries? How do you focus your week? I would love to help you live life on your terms. This is a practice I take many clients through and I would love to help you. Schedule a FREE COACHING SESSION with me today and we’ll dive right in 🙂
