No more ‘Sunday scaries’: how changing our habits can conquer work anxiety

Long to-do lists, early morning meetings, and five long days ahead – Monday mornings are a common source of dread. LinkedIn data shows that 80% of professionals experience the Sunday Scaries, with over 90% of Millennials and Gen Z reporting that they, too, feel it. But in this age of wellness, mental health awareness, and hybrid working, it feels like a good time to stop work dread in its tracks.

You can do this in several ways, from looking at how you timetable the week to opening up the right kinds of conversations. We've pinned down some key methods – because it's time to give everyone their Sunday back.

Today's Employees look beyond traditional work perks; they're drawn to companies offering meaningful life help. The Sunday Scaries have the same root causes for most people – overload, tiredness, and/or navigating those sometimes-tricky colleague relationships. Perks such as subsidised counselling, a free wellbeing platform membership, and access to flexible local workspaces can directly tackle those issues. There are other gains to be made from this, too – IWG's Hybrid Talent Magnet study found that 88% of HR executives believed they would reduce staff turnover if offered more focused wellness benefits.

There is nothing wrong with a slower start on a Monday. Now, we're not talking about no work, but how about no commute? Monday is one of the key days hybrid workers choose not to travel into their head office, opting to work closer to home instead. Office attendance is 23% higher across Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays than on Mondays and Fridays, according to IWG data. Helping employees make that choice by offering them access to local coworking spaces suited to their lives can be hugely empowering.

You could also think about how effective your Monday morning meetings are. Travis Wright, Chief Marketing Technologist at CCP Global, advocates “No Meeting Mondays". He writes, "I'm not always successful with the No Monday Meeting, but minimising meetings that day has been very effective in my overall weekly productivity." Perhaps instead, you could try scheduling your Monday meetings for the afternoon so that any prep can be done that morning, avoiding the temptation to get ahead on a Sunday evening.

One key feeling behind the Sunday Scaries is the long week ahead. Five whole days are lying in waiting like a marathon obstacle course. But what if the week was divided into a series of mini-events? The hybrid model allows for more structured time management because the week can be split up into occasional head office days (for collaborative projects and team events) and more days spent working closer to home for solo work time and deep-focus tasks.

That flexibility allows workers to mentally break down the week ahead into achievable chunks and tailor their working style to reach their own peak productivity. For example, working a Monday at an office near home means a much shorter commute and fewer interruptions. Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi coined the term ‘flow state’ to describe that moment when a task utterly absorbs a person. If you could start your week, and perhaps finish it that way too, with a day of focussed "flow state" work, you could enjoy your weekend safely, knowing that you've achieved all you can.

Finally, let’s put this myth of multitasking to bed – it is rarely the way to get good work done. As author James Clear writes: “Yes, it is possible, for example, to watch TV while cooking dinner or to answer an email while talking on the phone. What is impossible, however, is concentrating on two tasks at once.”

By adequately addressing and analysing our deadlines, we can avoid that hyper-productivity expectation that often fuels the Sunday Scaries. You could use qualitative KPIs to measure success, celebrating creativity and innovation rather than focusing on quantitative output.

Monday morning work dread feels like it's been around forever, but that doesn't mean it has to stay. The hybrid era has changed so much about our working lives that whether we follow the steps above or carve out our own personal working ideals, it's far more in our power now to enjoy work and map out a career that fits.

About IWG

IWG is leading the workspace revolution. Our companies help millions of people and their businesses to work more productively. We do so by providing a choice of professional, inspiring and collaborative workspaces, communities and services. Digitalization and new technologies are transforming the world of work. People want the personal productivity benefits of living and working how and where they want. Businesses want financial and strategic benefits. Our customers are start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large multinationals with unique business goals, people and aspirations. They want workspaces and communities to match their needs. They want a choice.

Through our companies, we provide that choice and serve the whole world of work: Regus, Spaces, No18, Basepoint, Open Office and Signature. We create personal, financial, and strategic value for businesses of every size, from some of the most exciting companies and well-known organizations on the planet to individuals and the next generation of industry leaders. They all harness the power of flexible working to increase their productivity, efficiency, agility, and market proximity. Join us at www.iwgplc.com.