That Sunday Feeling… Do YOU Have It?
the WISDOM podcast Season 1 Episode 11
with Dorothy Ratusny
TIMESTAMPS:
Podcast Intro: 0-1:31 | What is ‘That Sunday Feeling?’: 1:34 | The Phenomena that Millions of People Experience Each Week: 2:42 | What Causes ‘That Sunday Feeling’?: 5:04 | The First Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 7:12 | The Second Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 10:56 | The Third Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 12:34 | | The Fourth Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 16:15 | The Fifth Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 18:30 | The Sixth Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 19:36 | The Seventh Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 20:39 | The Eighth Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 22:36 | The Ninth Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 26:21 | The Tenth Best Practice to Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’: 28:26 | Writing the Book, ‘Live Your Life’s Purpose’: 36:27 | | 5 Questions to Help You Define Your Purpose: 40:42 | Podcast Outro: 40:42
If you’ve ever felt a looming dread on Sunday that falls upon you much like clockwork; as your mind anticipates Monday morning, the week ahead, and what you may wish you could avoid; then you likely know all too well what feels like…
TRUTH SERUM: 95% of people that experience Sunday anxiety said they believed it was due to work stress. ‘That Sunday Feeling’ is the culmination of anticipatory anxiety and/or a depressive mood that can be easily managed and alleviated with these 10 best practices.
A-HA MOMENTS: You are not alone in ‘That Sunday Feeling’ .
Use each of these 10 best practices as the cure, and as a new way of approaching life as you now know it.
PRACTICAL WISDOM: Unlock your infinite potential. Understand the source of your Sunday blues. If you feel largely unmotivated and unhappy because your work (and perhaps other aspects of your life) are unfulfilling, then I urge you to identify what is meaningful and to examine what your greater purpose is in this lifetime. In this episode I offer the strategy for how to do this so that you can live a life of purpose and meaning and without needing to uproot your life as you know it.
New research from The Sleep Judge (an organization that helps people get a good night’s sleep) showed that an astonishing 81 percent of people said they experience an elevated sense of anxiety on Sunday in anticipation of the week ahead. 15 percent of people polled in the study reported feeling dread first thing Sunday morning, 29 percent in the afternoon; and the majority – 57 percent of people reported feeling especially stressed on Sunday evenings.
According to a survey conducted by the job site Monster, up to 76% of Americans self-reported having “really bad” Sunday night anxiety, compared to 47% of people throughout the rest of the world.
Releasing each episode of this podcast on Sunday evening, was a decision inspired by this real phenomena that millions of people experience every week. If you or someone you know has experienced dread, anticipatory anxiety, panic attacks, a depressed mood, and disturbed or restless sleep on Sunday; wishing that you did not have to go to school or work, and a job or career that is unfulfilling and stressful and into the grind of another week that leaves your stomach turning with nausea and anxiety; then this episode is for you.
Here I’m going to share 10 best practices for curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’ and I’m also going to take it one step further. If you have been struggling in your job, knowing that your current career is not for you, and you either know or are working to figure out what your ideal job looks like, let me help. A little later into the episode, I’ll be sharing the 5 questions that will help you define your life’s purpose and how to live this in your new career or dream job.
I want you to have the practical wisdom and tools to unlock your infinite potential; and to find peace and purpose on the path to awakening your authentic power. And if this helps most on a Sunday when you may be feeling a little sad or a lot anxious about your week ahead; then herein is a proposed cure. Please, allow the wisdom within each of these episodes into your heart; allow these offerings of truth to be your guide and inspiration for living a consciously-driven life, for encouraging you to live as your authentic self; and of course to use the practical tools and teachings; guiding principles and best strategies to be the new and enlightened way in which you live.
‘That Sunday Feeling’ can be described as an internal smoke alarm. It is meant to draw your attention to what is not quite right; of what you may be unsatisfied or unhappy with; and the low levels of sadness or despair that you feel. That gnawing feeling is a reminder for you to take action towards the change you want; even if this may seem difficult, or impossible.
‘That Sunday Feeling’ may highlight the jarring truth that perhaps you have not made the most of your weekend; of planning and doing what nourishes you, including what chores and household tasks are needed to help you to feel positive about being productive and organized so that you will have things in place for the week ahead. For students dreading a return to class on Monday, perhaps you’ve left your homework in a pile on your desk all weekend, and now your Sunday is consumed with cramming in what you’ve often told yourself you should have started on Saturday morning.
‘That Sunday Feeling’ could also be because you have to face a teacher who is unkind or unfair; or peers who bully. Perhaps you feel like an outsider in your peer group. I also work with teens who feel the anxiety and dread every Sunday evening, but also on most mornings, because of the uncomfortable and unpleasant environment which can affect their ability to study and focus.
Click to Tweet!
Life hacking your Sunday blues begins with recognizing when you feel worry and dread about the week ahead whilst it is still the weekend. Let these 10 best practices tame the ruminating thoughts that are spinning in your mind, causing you to feel anticipatory anxiety about Monday and the upcoming week.
1. If you’ve identified that Sunday Feeling, the best thing you could do is take positive action to feel better. (The first three best practices are focused specifically on taking positive action). Your thoughts determine how you will feel. If you are dwelling in anticipation of the future; of what has not yet happened; and may never happen; you will be experiencing anxiety, fear, even panic. These powerful emotions will overtake you; and even in the comfort of your home on Sunday evening, you will have created an experience in which your body is reacting to your thoughts and you are living in a state of anxiety, fear, and unhappiness. You bring on ‘That Sunday Feeling’ by what you tell yourself and believe.
Our minds are designed to look for evidence to support what we tell ourself. If you anticipate a looming workload and much pressure and responsibility – even though you and your boss have a good relationship; as you anticipate what is waiting for you on Monday and the endless demands that are typically made of you; this can easily give rise to an increase in heart rate, rapid breathing or shortness of breath, more worrisome thoughts, including thoughts of how you will be able to meet these demands; and the feeling of dread – as you tell yourself ‘How will I be able to do this?’ and ‘I’ll never get everything accomplished’.
Replaying in your mind situations of the past, is also emotionally exhausting. In dwelling on the past, you relive what has already happened and is unchangeable, although your body re-experiences the anxiety and stress immediately again in the present. By focusing on problems or difficult situations in the past, you are putting yourself into a stressful and panicked state – here and now. The Strategy / Best Practice? Be proactive in how you think. Focus on what you want as an outcome. Let me explain. Rather than ruminate on a problem or anticipate the future with fear, the best strategy is to identify; to decide what you want as an outcome. Be strategic. Focus on solutions rather than ruminate on problems and you will bring far more optimism, confidence, and success into your life. For whatever you think about, you bring more of the same to you. Look for and find the good or silver lining in situations that may at first glance, not be ideal. Often these situations offer important teachings and present experiences that challenge you to grow. See challenges as opportunities to become better, emotionally stronger, and resilient to negativity, and stress. This is how you take charge of your life and co-create new possibilities. Change your focus. Take what constructive action will allow you to have a great week.
2. A second best practice for taking positive action and curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’ is to consider your approach to thinking. Since it is your thoughts and perceptions that determine how you feel; if you want to feel better you begin with changing how you think. In addition to focusing on a solution or desired outcome, this strategy is about having constructive thoughts and for changing your attitude. If you dwell on what is a problem, your mind will continue to show you other problems and this perpetuates feelings of hopelessness, discouragement and anxiety. Consider changing your attitude to be more constructive and helpful; and to use positive self-talk including encouraging words that will help you to stay focused on what is most important; on doing your best despite what others may be doing. You will immediately feel better because your thoughts are realistic and yet positive. For more help with this, please check out the transcripts of this episode here and a link I’m sharing to the WISDOM Blog and a post on how you can change thoughts that are not positive. Adopting a new way of approaching challenge will serve you in all places in your life, and especially as you want to cure ‘That Sunday Feeling‘.
3. Organize your weekend in advance and schedule tasks that are important at a time in which you will feel most motivated to complete these. As well, schedule time for fun and relaxation, of your choosing.
Taking action is much easier when you plan your week in advance and as you follow your plan; whilst leaving room for flexibility and unexpected pop ups. If you found yourself wishing the weekends were longer, is it because you’ve been having so much fun? Is it because you needed more down time; and time segregated from work (especially if you tend to work on weekends or blend the lines between work and home life), or is ‘That Sunday Feeling’ the result of not utilizing your weekend in the best possible way? Remember this doesn’t mean that you have to jam your weekends full of excitement in order to feel satisfied. Rather, honouring your needs whether that is to be social, or to have alone time, perhaps unplugging from technology and where you can enjoy your own company. We all need a healthy balance of both engagement with others and to nurture the relationship we have with our self. If you are ‘on’ all week, you definitely want to carve out some quiet alone time to recharge, and to identify provide for your needs. Contrary to what some may think, binge watching Netflix is not an example of quality time nurturing yourself. It’s entertainment, it can be fun and necessary escapism, but you are actually absent, your mind focused on what you are taking in, and you are not engaging with your self. It is not the same as quietly contemplating your inner dialogue, your thoughts and feelings; your desires and wishes as well as what steps you will choose to take positive action in your life.
This third best practice is to organize your time, and plan your weekend. This acts as a helpful reminder that you need to have work-life balance to be effective in how you manage time so that you can feel satiated Sunday evening; having taken care of your needs and having experienced a full and nourishing weekend. Even if you love your job, by Friday you may be feeling the effects of an intensely busy week. For some, Saturday has become their chosen day of rest, to rejuvenate from the week so that they are refreshed and energized for Sunday. The best part about planning your Sunday in advance is that you are deciding what you want to manifest. It is a powerful habit to plan what good you want for each day; whether an activity that you look forward to, or perhaps you will remind yourself that you can choose how you want to feel and exist as.
4. A fourth best practice for curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’? Give the rest of your week more consideration and self-love. It can become a habit to neglect yourself and your life during the week, especially if you have not learned how to healthily care for yourself. Self-care and self-love can seem oddly confusing to some. The true secret of being successful includes understanding the importance of self-care in order that you may thrive and consistently perform at your best. If self-care has not been a priority for you, then consider the habit of asking yourself at random and frequent times during each day, ‘What do I need to feel at my best right now?’ and ‘What do I need to feel happiness now?’ Let your intuitive voice answer and then follow this. It may mean taking some time out for an activity that seems frivolous (like a nap in the middle of the day), or getting outside for a brisk walk and fresh air. The point is to practice indulging in self-care for at least 5 minutes or long enough for you to experience how this can be beneficial to you. Be sure to check out the debut episode of this podcast, in which we dive deep into all things about self-love and how to practice this. (I’ll leave the link for this in the episode notes.)
Life balance is a best practice. As you organize and plan your week, ensure that your strategy of life balance includes ample time to nourish yourself, to practice self-care and self-love each day. This will allow you autonomy to best enjoy your weekend; and it will give you much to look forward to in the upcoming week.
5. The fifth best practice to cure the Sunday blues is to practice gratitude for your life. Gratitude is the appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful to oneself; it is a general state of thankfulness and/or appreciation. Hold gratitude, be thankful for what you enjoy and appreciate, as a best practice for feeling encouraged, positive, and happy.
From multiple studies on brain activity, researchers can measure how gratitude is associated with an enhanced sense of personal well being; and that it may have wide-ranging effects; such as increased exercise and improved sleep, decreased depression, and fewer aches and pains. Gratitude is also associated with greater life satisfaction. These are all important factors in helping us to cure ‘That Sunday Feeling’.
6. If you find yourself thinking into the week ahead when you really just want to enjoy your weekend; a sixth best practice for curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’ is to practice mindfulness; and present moment awareness. Your thinking of the past or future keeps you from enjoying what is right in front of you. Just noticing that you are not present and in the ‘now’ will help you to refocus your mind instantly. This is a skill that will improve as you practice mindful awareness and as you choose to enjoy the present moment. Taking several deep breaths will immediately bring your attention into this moment. (I’m also including a link here in the episode transcripts to the WISDOM blog and a post which gives you the science for why taking deep breaths are so important).
7. Consider talking with a friend or a professional to have support. You may not be surprised to discover that your friends or colleagues dread Mondays and the upcoming week especially if they perceive their week to be high stress, or exceedingly demanding. Talking through your feelings with someone who understands and can offer some advice will be reassuring and you can focus on discussing helpful strategies rather than the cause of ‘That Sunday Feeling’ which would just perpetuate you feeling more of the same. If your symptoms persist despite all that you are doing and after working on this list of 10 best practices, consider speaking with a professional including your Naturopathic or Allopathic doctor. You may wish to rule out other causes of the Sunday blues such as prolonged or generalized anxiety or mild or severe depression, and any associated factors including disruptive sleep. Other stressful life situations can exacerbate ‘That Sunday Feeling’ so it can be helpful to speak with a therapist to have an effective means of addressing and alleviating other difficult life circumstances. I’m someone that you can also come to for help. You’ll find the links for connecting with me in the transcript for this episode and of course on my website: dorothyratusny.com. Curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’ may often be a matter of having additional tools and strategy that are specific for your personal life.
8. Practice good sleep hygiene. Sleep is one pillar of optimal health. Getting ample sleep during the week based on your personal requirements will help you to perform at your best. How much sleep is enough? (I’ll leave a link here to the recommended requirements based on age group and you may likely be surprised at how much sleep is recommended to function optimally). Weekends are in fact, great for naps and catching up on sleep. We know that poor sleep habits and restless sleep makes it more difficult for you to perform at your best; and it can perpetuate the use of caffeine and other stimulants as well as sleep medication rather than use your body’s natural ability to regulate sleep using good sleep hygiene practices. Being sleep deprived can leave you feeling edgy and lacking the resources you need to handle high stress situations.
Consider a new bedtime practice of changing out your technology for an activity that allows you to decompress, to unwind, and to quiet (not stimulate) your mind. Try it for one week. Give yourself a break from technology each night for the hour before you want to fall asleep. Blue light in the evening tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime, which inhibits the production of melatonin (our sleep-inducing hormone) and affects our circadian rhythm; reducing both the quantity and quality of sleep. Sleep is as important to our health as eating, drinking and breathing. It allows our bodies to repair themselves and our brains to consolidate our memories and process information. Poor sleep is linked to physical problems such as a weakened immune system and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Lack of adequate sleep over time has been associated with a shortened lifespan.
Consider what sleep practices will be best for you; not only on Sunday evening, but every night of the week. In fact, the best sleep strategies have to do with you reconnecting with yourself. For example, meditate before bed (a guided meditation is ideal so you can relax into the practice as you follow along); have a hot bath whilst listening to calming music as part of your preparation for sleep; read or listen to a good book or bedtime story. If you feel more energetic or if you don’t yet feel tired; engage in a hobby; tidy your living space; choose your wardrobe for the next day and prep your meals. One of the most helpful strategies for high achievers is to go over their plan for the week including what goals they have set and to review how they will achieve these. This before bedtime, can be reassuring and often motivating. Aim at new practices for healthy sleep hygiene, and allow yourself to take in as much natural light during the day; to help boost your ability to sleep well at night.
9. Something else that is also very important and makes this list of best practices to cure ‘That Sunday Feeling’, is the notion that you may need a break. Studies have shown that when we are struggling it can be very helpful to take a pause from the daily routine of life and to use this time away from work and our regular commitments and responsibilities to contemplate what is important once again. Fresh perspective and likely some well needed rest will help you to re-examine what you are choosing for your life. Taking time off work, using your vacation time, or taking mental wellness days allow you a break from chronic stress so you can restore physically and mentally. The idea is to be mindful of how you are feeling, so that you can notice symptoms early. A chronically-triggered stress response can lead to decreased creativity, memory problems, mild cognitive impairment, and other issues. If the two days of a weekend is not enough time to feel rested and rejuvenated, and if you are experiencing
- Lack of energy
- Lack of motivation
- More frequent frustration
- Feeling ‘fuzzy-headed’ or ‘cloudy’
- Mild health issues
- Sleep disturbances due to stress
you likely are overdue for a break. Giving yourself enough time away from the constant stress of work so that you can begin to feel better; is the first step. We all need healthy work-life balance and this includes periods in which we take time away to feel recharged, refreshed, and hopefully with new strategy for how we will better manage stress.
10. Living Your Purpose. Many people force themselves to go to a place and a job that they detest; to deal with situations and people who they would deem as unhealthy or toxic; and to feel as though they had little to no choice; that this was something that they simply had to do – for now – or forever, because of their life situation or circumstances. A best practice for curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’, and for living your best life – if this resonates with you, is deciding and implementing your exit strategy and the road of freedom that you will walk knowing that you will govern all of your time and that your job will be of conscious choice and one that is fulfilling both in what you do and in what you are offering the world. This is also what is called ‘living your purpose’. When you are able to choose a job that allows you to be creative and to offer something that is valuable and of meaning to you – into the world as a service, a talent or expertise; then you’ve turned your passion and interests into a sustainable means of living on purpose. Likely this also means that you are enjoying what you do so that work is not work in the traditional sense of the word because your work is how you create and so work in this new definition, is a source of personal happiness and freedom. You look forward to waking each day and there is never a Sunday feeling.
I’m going to suggest here, how it is possible for you to make a change; to live what empowers you, to what you feel most passionate about and what you may identify as your purpose. And then, as you begin this path, even whilst you continue working at your current job; you can begin to carve out for yourself the right exit strategy and the means for living autonomous and free to do what you love and are most interested in.
“Life is meant to be enjoyed. It is intended to be a series of positive, beautiful experiences, many of which you co-create because of your free will to choose. What do you need to choose more of?”
It’s never impossible to change a job that is unfulfilling; it’s only our self-imposed limitations that keep us stuck, afraid to move forward, to no longer do what is not working because we tell our self that “it’s not possible”; that “we can’t possibly do something that pays less money”, or that requires retraining or upgrading our education. For whatever you have been telling yourself is precisely why you have continued to be where you are; and as you know, nothing will change until you decide it and you are willing to take action to move towards what you want to make your true desires – a reality. I want you to consider how you can actually do the unthinkable and move into the job, and the life that you really want to be living.
You can begin this first in your mind with imagining, visioning what is most desired. Use your Sunday evening for daydreaming, visioning, and manifesting. This is how you build excitement, positive feelings and belief in the having of what you want; and it begins with holding the clear image of this in your mind; even if you only know how you want to feel – focus on this and feel the feeling. This positive feeling will help you to imagine what you would ideally enjoy and want to do as your ideal job.
Begin with your willingness and desire to contemplate the possibility of changing your work life for what will be far more meaningful and fulfilling. You don’t have do uproot your life or live impoverished to be happy; you can take calculated, well-thought out steps that will continue to support you and your lifestyle (and family) whilst you take steps in the direction of what is most wanted.
The freedom to do anything that makes you happier; that allows you to be in alignment with what is your right and best path begins with your ability to relinquish, release, and “let go” of whatever you have decided is not working. This could be the job that you hate going to each Monday or it could be the way in which you are thinking about this job and what attitude and beliefs you hold which are causing you to feel unhappy.
There was a time earlier in my career where I felt a compelling and strong inspiration to write a book on what it means to live one’s purpose and how to discover what your unique purpose is in the world. Of course it was perfect timing that I was also beginning to see more and more clients who were living this same story. Many of whom chose a career and a profession that required many years of education, discipline, and even self-sacrifice because it was not truly something that they wanted to do. As they adopted a lifestyle and many obligations based on the salary that they were now earning, this made it even more difficult to challenge the logic and the belief that it would be a good idea to give this up to pursue what they really wanted to do based on knowing that it would affect their bottom line for a time.
Anytime that you have the feeling (whether it is the bothersome, nagging feeling that eats away at your Sunday because you are anticipating the week ahead and a job you dislike or loathe), or any feeling that reminds you that this is not what you really want to do; that this – whatever this is – that contributes to your unhappiness, – it is so important that you give yourself the permission to listen to this feeling; and the inner voice that is yearning for something more – something different.
What if you were able to follow your heart when making decisions about everything that has to do with your well being? Would you easily choose the job that was far more fulfilling and of purpose? We sometimes believe that to do what we love would mean earning less and even this isn’t necessarily true. Remember its all about what you believe and what you choose. If you decided that you were willing to change careers in order to be happy and feel incredible fulfillment each day, couldn’t you also decide to earn the kind of money that you want and to seek this out also?
Writing the book, “Live Your Life’s Purpose” was a way to create a system and a path for my clients to have the necessary tools and practical wisdom for finding belief in their dreams, and for taking the cautionary yet important steps to help them transition from where they were into their dream life.
So to help you get started or to support wherever you are on your journey of transitioning into your dream job, I’d like to share five of the questions from my list of ten that are in the book; to help you move towards this incredible ideal. The idea with each question is to brainstorm and record as many answers as you can think of, and that come to mind in picture form. This is your intuitive self offering guidance and help. With your answers, you will see a pattern and an overlap of what becomes a more clear understanding of what you would be best suited for you based on your areas of expertise and enjoyment. Feel free to check these questions out in the episode transcript and to invest in the time to record your answers fully.
- What do you love and enjoy most outside of your current job/career?
- If you already have millions of dollars (and perhaps you do), and did not have to work, what would you do each day and why?
- If you could no longer work in your career, and would be paid to retrain in something different, what would you do?
- What do people come to you for help with?
- What are your innate talents and strengths?
Brainstorm your answers without judgment, allowing your right brain and your creativity to flourish. Take your answers and as you review the common themes and what comes up more than once, you have important and honest data now from which to explore what profession and vocation would be best aligned with your calling – your true potential and purpose in this lifetime. If you would like my help to take your answers to the next level please reach out to me and let me help.
My hope is that you experience the feeling of expansion and freedom that comes with enjoying Sunday as an incredible day in which you may look forward to, in part because you have made the space and time for yourself to do what you love. Maybe you’ve now decided that it’s time to look forward to and feel good about every day of your life because this is how you live life to the fullest. Please use these 10 success strategies not only for curing ‘That Sunday Feeling’ but as 10 best practices for living empowered and of your highest self.
Sharing the wisdom and beauty of divine love with you…
Namaste!
Podcast Theme Music: ‘Aura’ from the Album, Illuvia by Eternell www.eternell.net/album/illuvia
Accompanying Music: Eternell, ‘Embrace’ 30min.
A generous ‘thank you’ to Audio Engineer, Aliaksandr Karneichuk.
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.