Finally, we’ve made it to Friday. You made it through the week. All week you’ve woke up early, worked out, got the kids ready to go, made it to work, sat through meeting after meeting after meeting, making meals, grocery shopping, the “routine”. Here we are, Friday afternoon and you’re just ready to make it to the weekend.
You have EPL games to watch on Saturday, fun activities with the kids, long run on Sunday morning, and sleep, sleep and more sleep.
You blink.
Yikes, it’s 8PM on Sunday. Is my weekend really over already? I still have to make lunch for the week, read some emails, and prep for the week. I also need to go to bed early so I can start the week on the right foot.
10PM, I’m tired and ready to pass out on my bed. Contacts out, teeth brushed, PJs on. I’m going to fall right asleep.
10:30PM – shoot, I have a meeting tomorrow. I forgot to prep for that. Okay, can I prioritize that when I get in?
11:00PM – I can’t believe I was mad at the kids today. Ugh, I feel so bad for that.
11:30PM – Okay, I need to really focus on some deep breathing, hedge my expectations and just focus on enjoying time with the kids.
12:00AM – Money, money, money. How do I find more money to pay for our debt. How do I make sure our kids are set up for life?
Eventually, you find a way to clear your head long enough to fall asleep. At times, this continues far too long. Sometimes there are tears. Other times there’s anger or sadness. But, you somehow eventually fall asleep and wake up exhausted the next day.
Okay, yep. I’ve definitely experienced that. But, what is that?
Sunday Scaries are the anxiety and dread of resuming the workweek on Monday. Quite frankly, your head hits the pillow and all of a sudden, your mind goes into hyperdrive. Anything and everything that can come into your mind. It can be something that happened that day or it can be something that hasn’t happened or may never happen.
My worst nights of these anxiety attacks happened on Sundays as I prepared to start another week on Monday. However, there have been numerous times that my mind would race on various days of the week. It’s always depended on my stress level and how many competing priorities I had.
How do I find a way to fall asleep?
I haven’t really found a concrete way to suppress my thoughts and fall sleep.
Some of the things that have worked for me:
- Putting in headphones and listening to music
- I used to do this a lot when I was younger. I’ve replaced this method with my next suggestion
- Meditating / listening to something like Calm
- Adding this into your routine can really help ease your mind and remove thoughts. I’ve tried to incorporate this into my daily routine in hopes of limiting my anxiety before bed
- Getting out of bed and doing something else
- Again, in my younger years, I would go play Xbox for a little bit until I was practically falling asleep. Sometimes this would take just a few minutes. Others, it would be a lot longer
- Writing (whether it’s in a diary, blog or some other form)
Option #2 is my favorite option now and something I try to use frequently.
My posts will detail several of my Sunday Scaries. I’ve recently experienced anxiety while sleeping and wanted to try “blogging” my thoughts. I’m hoping it helps reduce my anxiety and stress while also helping others.
Have you experienced the Sunday Scaries before?
Is this something you’ve ever experienced before? How have you handled your anxiety and stress when you’re trying to get sleep?