Why Do I Let Monday Ruin My Sunday?

Every Sunday night, I start counting down to the alarm clock. It’s the one that makes me want to throw my phone against the wall instead of hitting snooze.

By the end of the weekend, I know my pass is about to expire. Back to the grind.

But if I’m being truthful, Sunday night isn’t really when it starts. The feeling hangs over almost my entire Sunday.

I enjoy the first part of Sunday morning. I make breakfast for my wife and me, and we sit around enjoying a few cups of coffee. There’s no hurry to get anywhere, and for a little while, I’m not thinking too much about what tomorrow brings.

But as the morning goes on, that familiar feeling settles in. Tomorrow is Monday. Back to the alarm clock, the drive to work, and another five days of the same routine.

It’s almost like Sunday has become another weekday, except I don’t actually have to go to work.

Sunday Should Be More Than This

I think about all the things we could be doing with our Sundays.

We could take a drive up to the mountains, spend a few hours looking around, and enjoy getting away from the house.

Or pick up a bucket of chicken and head to the local state park by the lake. Bring our fishing poles and see if anything’s biting. Even if we didn’t catch a thing, we’d still have spent the afternoon outdoors together.

None of that requires some big vacation or months of planning. It’s just a Sunday afternoon.

Yet most Sundays, I let the thought of Monday hang over everything. I start thinking about getting ready for another workweek, and before I know it, another day off has slipped by.

It’s not that I don’t have things I’d like to do. I just have a hard time getting past the feeling that my free time is almost over.

And that’s a lousy way to spend a day that hasn’t even ended.

When a Day Off Doesn’t Feel Like One

Saturday doesn’t usually bother me this way. Saturday feels like a real day off. I can get up knowing there’s still another day between me and Monday morning.

Sunday is different.

Even with the whole day ahead of me, I have that nagging reminder in the back of my mind. I know I’ll have to get up early tomorrow, so somehow that makes Sunday feel shorter than it really is.

I catch myself treating it like a day to get ready for Monday instead of a day to enjoy.

And there’s nothing wrong with getting ready for the workweek. The alarm needs to be set, and there are things to take care of around the house.

But those things don’t require the entire day.

I don’t need to spend Sunday afternoon mentally rehearsing Monday morning. I’ve been doing this routine long enough. I know how it goes.

What’s frustrating is recognizing all this and still falling into the same pattern.

I can tell myself to quit thinking about work, but that doesn’t mean the feeling just disappears.

Monday Will Get Here Anyway

I’m not looking for a new job or trying to convince myself that I ought to love Monday mornings.

At this point in my working life, I’m not chasing promotions or a new career. I want to do my job, come home, and enjoy the time that belongs to me.

That includes Sundays.

And I don’t expect every Sunday to be a trip to the mountains or an afternoon fishing. Some Sundays, I’d rather stay home, watch television, and not do much of anything.

There’s nothing wrong with that either.

What bothers me is when I spend the day at home, not because that’s what I wanted to do, but because I’ve already let tomorrow take the enjoyment out of today.

There’s a difference.

One Sunday might be worth a drive to the lake. Another might be worth nothing more than a quiet afternoon with my wife.

Either way, I want it to feel like a day off, not the waiting room for Monday morning.

Taking Back Sunday

I don’t have some clever trick that’s going to make me look forward to the beginning of another workweek.

And I’m not going to pretend I can switch off years of Sunday dread just because I’ve written an article about it.

But I am starting to question why I keep giving Monday so much of my Sunday.

Maybe one of these weekends we’ll grab that bucket of chicken, throw the fishing poles in the car, and head to the lake.

Or maybe we’ll just enjoy another quiet afternoon at home.

The point isn’t where we go or what we do. It’s being able to enjoy the day without constantly thinking about the one coming next.

Monday morning will arrive whether I spend Sunday worrying about it or not.

And when that alarm goes off, I’ll get up and go to work, just like I always have.

But until then, Sunday is still mine.

I need to start treating it that way.