Just imagine. Friday evening is about to end, and your weekend is about to start. You have the whole two days in your hands. No deadlines, no meetings, no Outlook.
How does it feel?
I know the most amazing feeling in the world. Corporate ninjas can definitely relate to it.
But then the Sunday evening knocks on your door, and all your pending tasks come in front of your eyes.
Trust me. I know this feeling. I’m a corporate warrior myself.
However, I used to feel the same way. But nowadays I embrace the time I have in my hand. It took me a lot of time to get rid of this Sunday anxiety and feel positive about it, which I’m sharing in this blog.
So, let’s unfold one by one what I’ve done or am still doing to not feel anxious on Sunday evenings.
Things I do to Manage Sunday Night Anxiety
Slow Friday Evening
For a slow Friday evening, you should first finish all your work in the first place.
What I do. The first thing I do is create a list of tasks that I have to wrap up by Friday and work on those tasks in the first place, so that I don’t have to think about those tasks the whole weekend.
Mostly, I finish those tasks in the first half and then repetitive or less concentrated tasks. Trust me, by doing this, most of the burden is already gone.
I know many people by thinking it’s Friday don’t even work at all and become anxious on Sunday evenings.
Spend “me” Time/Self Care
Do you remember when you were in school, as soon as the weekend would arrive, you were completely present in those moments - no homework tension, no teacher tension. In a similar way, you should enjoy your weekend at every age.
See, I know being an adult is different, but when you get time for yourself, try to enjoy those moments by being present.
Do whatever you like to feel better. You can read a book, take a nap, get a massage, give time for your hobby, anything you want.
Just make sure you enjoy what you are doing.
I personally believe that spending time with yourself is equally important. Before enjoying other company, you should enjoy your company.
Spend Quality Time with your Loved Ones
Spare some time for your loved ones. Let me tell you how I divide my time.
Being married, I live with my husband so mostly we see each other after work and talk about our day. Share stories, sorrows and spend that time in a quality way.
But I don’t get much time to talk with my parents or in-laws. When I was in Nagpur, I used to visit them on alternate weekends. After moving to Hyderabad, every now and then, we can’t travel. So we video call them or call them and have long conversations.
It feels good to have such a conversation after long working days.
Then during the rest of the weekend, my partner and I divide household chores, spend time together and make sure we both have some "me time" individually.
Get into Nature
This is my favourite part. I love greenery more than malls or fancy restaurants. I love to spend time in nature. After coming to Hyderabad, the thing I miss the most is the morning walk.
In Nagpur, I used to go for morning walks. There were so many parks near my home. Currently, in the place I live, there are no parks. There is one park which is 15 min via vehicle from my location, but due to Hyderabad traffic, it seems like 15 KM away. It doesn’t make any sense to go there every morning.
So what we do is we go to parks on alternate weekends to give our eyes some relaxation. It’s our time, away from the screen and immersing ourselves in nature. Here, I mentioned we, as I usually go with a partner.
You also look for your sweet spot and see when you can experience this.
Self Talk
Don’t tell me you never did this before. Well, if you didn’t, you should start doing this. I’m not saying start talking with yourself in public like an idiot. Definitely not!
Instead, what you should do is look at yourself in the mirror and talk aloud all your feelings that you carried that week. Embrace yourself. Encourage yourself. Give clarity to yourself. Tell yourself you are doing a great job.
Many people do this every morning. But if it's not possible for you, start doing it on a weekly basis. Trust me, you need this more than you think.
Meditation
In many of my blogs, I talked about meditation. Well, I’m not a regular meditator, but I'm really looking forward to this year. I really want to improve my morning schedule. However, whenever I get time, I meditate or at least do breathing exercises.
If you can, try meditating at least on a weekly basis. Better than never.
Most people say, morning time is the best time to meditate and even I feel the same. Again, if you don’t get time in the morning, just do it as per your schedule. I can totally relate to corporate warriors. Sometimes, we don’t get time for ourselves, and if someone lectures us like this, it feels literally irritating.
That’s why I’m repeating it again and again, do the things as per your schedule, but make sure that when you do that, you are 100% present in that moment.
Journaling
I do this quite often to get clarity on my thoughts and help me in decision-making. However, nowadays, I don’t get time for this a lot, so I do it on a weekly basis, mostly on Sundays.
Journaling about your thoughts is one of the great ways to understand your inner self and your thought process.
The little secret, my best decisions come from journaling only.
Get Ready for the Next Week
I know this doesn’t sound exciting, but it will prepare you for the upcoming week. Mostly, I do this on Sunday evenings at around 8 pm. I overview my last week's tasks and what are the important tasks for the upcoming week, and accordingly, I divide my time.
See, don’t take work as a burden. I enjoy my work, but working with others could be a difficult task. You get to see different types of people in the workspace who think they know everything, and whatever they say should be the line. But learn to accept and ignore those people at the same time.
Enjoy your work. Do what you can and stand up for yourself wherever needed, and don’t panic for every small thing.
My Thoughts
The weekend is for relaxation and household chores that we often ignore until the weekend arrives. But after this, you also need to do something productive for yourself.
Think for a moment, you work hard for a company that pays you a monthly check, but how much time do you get for yourself or for your hobbies?
I’m pretty sure not much time or no time at all.
So instead of just lying on a bed, try to do something productive. I’m not saying don’t rest at all, but give some time to your hobbies that you enjoy working on.
