We all know that feeling. It’s Sunday afternoon, the weekend isn’t technically over, and yet somehow Monday has already begun creeping in. Maybe it starts with a passing thought about your inbox. A meeting you haven’t prepared for. The growing list of things you need to do tomorrow. Before you know it, you’re mentally at your desk while physically still sitting on the couch.

There’s a name for it, of course: the “Sunday Scaries”. That familiar sense of dread that descends as the weekend draws to a close and the working week begins to loom. For some of us, it’s little more than a fleeting do I really have to? For others, Sunday evening can become a weekly ritual of overthinking, restless sleep and feeling decidedly un-rested before Monday has even arrived.

And really, is it any wonder? We live in a world where work follows us home in our pockets, emails arrive at all hours and switching off can sometimes feel like another thing we need to get better at.

We spoke with psychologist Zahra Ciardi about what’s really happening when Monday begins to bleed into Sunday, why some of us feel it more acutely than others, and the point at which a case of the Sunday Scaries might be trying to tell us something more.

What are the Sunday Scaries, and why do so many of us experience them?

The Sunday Scaries is a colloquial term for anticipatory anxiety: a sustained feeling of unease or dread about what lies ahead, rather than fear in response to an immediate threat. It often begins on Sunday afternoon or evening as people start thinking about unfinished tasks, workplace pressures or the week’s demands. This can lead to rumination, low mood, helplessness and disrupted sleep.

Interestingly, the anxiety often reflects how much about Monday feels unknown, rather than how busy it will be. A packed but clearly mapped-out week may feel more manageable than a relatively light week with one unresolved issue, because the nervous system can interpret ambiguity as an unresolved risk.

Why does Sunday often stop feeling like the weekend and start feeling like Monday?

Anticipatory anxiety draws our attention towards a perceived threat so we can prepare for it. As Monday gets closer, the unknowns of the coming week can feel increasingly urgent, prompting the mind to rehearse conversations, anticipate problems and run through unfinished tasks. Mental rest is different from physical rest. You may be lying on the couch on Sunday evening, but mentally you have already time-travelled into Monday through rumination and rehearsal.

Why do some people experience Sunday anxiety more intensely than others?

Sunday anxiety may be more intense for:

• People who are already experiencing burnout, have an anxious temperament or are particularly sensitive to stress.
• Those with a lower tolerance for uncertainty or ambiguity.
• People who feel they have little control over their circumstances.
• Those whose self-worth is closely tied to their performance or career, particularly if they fear being judged or place themselves under pressure to meet perfectionistic standards.
• People who grew up in unpredictable environments and may therefore be more sensitive to uncertainty.
• Those who rely on coping mechanisms such as drinking or doomscrolling, which can prevent genuinely restorative rest.

Can the Sunday Scaries be a sign of burnout, or are they a normal part of modern working life?

I believe it can be both. Occasional Sunday anxiety that is proportionate to the week ahead and does not affect your functioning can be a normal response to stress. Signs that it may be becoming more problematic and therefore require support include:

• It occurs every week.
• It intensifies over time.
• It does not resolve once the week begins and persists into Monday or Tuesday.
• It affects your sleep or ability to rest, enjoy your free time or be present in your relationships.
• It reduces your ability to work effectively.
• It is accompanied by signs of burnout, such as exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, or a declining sense of personal accomplishment.

How much of our Sunday anxiety is personal, and how much is shaped by hustle culture and always-on work habits?

Both play a role, although the balance differs from person to person. Hustle culture tells us that:

• Work should be accessible around the clock through our smartphones, notifications, emails and messages.
• We need to keep pushing to succeed or get ahead.
• Rest must be earned, postponed or treated as a weakness.
• Everything is urgent or an emergency.
• Our worth depends on how productive we are.

At the same time, individuals vary considerably in their sensitivity to stress, tolerance for uncertainty and tendency to tie their identity to achievement. Always-on work culture can amplify these personal vulnerabilities, making it increasingly difficult to switch off.

Can the Sunday Scaries actually tell us something important about our work, routines or wellbeing?

Absolutely. Rather than treating the Sunday Scaries as something to suppress, we can treat them as a diagnostic signal. If the dread consistently centres on a particular task, person or workplace problem, it may point to something that needs to be addressed directly. Sometimes the work involves building the internal resources to face a challenge or solve a problem. In other cases, it means acknowledging a genuine mismatch between the person and their role.

Sunday anxiety can also reveal that someone is not resting enough, lacks effective self-care practices or relies on routines that are not genuinely restorative. Tracking thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and behavioural urges across several weeks can help identify whether the anxiety is easing, remaining stable or moving closer to burnout territory.

What's the difference between normal Sunday anxiety and a sign that something in our life needs to change?

Normal Sunday anxiety is generally proportionate to a genuine unknown and begins to settle once Monday arrives and uncertainty is replaced with information, so by Tuesday the anxiety is gone. It tends to vary from week to week, becoming stronger before a demanding week and milder before an easier one.

Signs that something may need to change include:

• The anxiety persists after Monday arrives, even once the unknown becomes known.
• The dread lifts only slightly, or not at all, and returns throughout the week.
• It becomes more intense from one week to the next.
• It shifts from anxiety about something specific to a broader desire to detach or not return.
• It is accompanied by strong physical symptoms, such as headaches, digestive issues, muscle tension or fatigue.
• You experience cynicism, detachment or a loss of motivation and desire to perform.

Are there any Sunday rituals or habits that genuinely help reduce anxiety before the week begins?

A few strategies can help that are backed by research:

• Restore a sense of control: Make one decision, complete one manageable task or set one boundary for the week ahead.
• Practise tolerating uncertainty: Allow one issue to remain unresolved rather than trying to plan away every unknown.
• Use bounded checking: Choose one deliberate, time-limited check of work messages and set a firm stopping point.
• Conduct a reality check: Separate what you genuinely know about Monday from what anxiety is predicting.
• Complete a five-minute “open loops” exercise: Write down a brain dump of unfinished thoughts and tasks so you do not have to hold them all in your mind.
• Set a work-message cut-off time: Choose a clear point after which you will stop checking emails and notifications.
• Create a physical transition: A walk, shower or change of clothes can help signal that the day is ending.
• Address sleep separately: If anxiety is preventing sleep, focus specifically on calming the body and reducing stimulation rather than trying to solve the entire week from bed.

Have we become so focused on 'fixing' the Sunday Scaries that we've stopped asking why so many people feel this way in the first place?

Yes. If the dread comes from not knowing what Monday holds, strategies that restore control and improve tolerance for uncertainty can help. But if it comes from already knowing that a job, manager, team or workplace is genuinely wrong for you, that is dread with an identifiable cause. Nervous-system tools may soften the feeling, but they will not resolve the underlying problem. That requires an honest examination of what needs to change, rather than a better Sunday evening routine.