Sunday Night Sleeplessness

The clock ticks faster on Sunday night. Or so it seems. It's because you know you're down to hours before Monday morning--the blaring alarm clock (if you still need one), the commute, the In Box, the co-workers, the To Dos, the work itself... the daily grind.

There's a name for all this: Monday blues. Which makes for restless Sunday nights, at least according to one recent survey across America and Europe.

Based on 24,224 responses in a poll conducted by the online job finder Monster.com, 82 percent of U.S. workers and 85 percent of U.K. workers said they have problems sleeping at least some of the time, but respondents noted their sleep is most frequently affected on Sundays, when thoughts of getting back to the routine the next day get in the way. More than half admitted that they are affected every single week! 

Can we change this? With a few psychological shifts, maybe.

Why Can't We Sleep on Sundays?

At first I thought that perhaps the people polled don't have jobs or careers that get them excited--they haven't found a true passion that eliminates the whole "Monday blues" phenomena. After all, Monster.com is a resource for people seeking new jobs. So, if the poll grabbed people who aren't in a steady, fulfilling job, you'd expect them to have a harder time saying good-bye to the weekend.

But then I thought a little more and came to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter how much you like or dislike what you do.  Work is still work.

Sunday night can be problematic for reasons many of us all share. The hustle and bustle of our modern lifestyles--keeping up with our families, our plans, our careers, our bills, our chores, and even our e-mail In boxes--is something I think we give ourselves permission to put on mute for at least part of the weekend. It all comes crashing back on the eve of the workweek again. So it goes in today's world.

How to Stop Thinking about Monday's Work on Sunday Night

Getting a good night's sleep on Sunday may require more attention to the details of relaxation. Some ideas from my book Beauty Sleep:

• Set a boundary, say 5:00 PM, after which you do NOT do any work (business or personal) or even check e-mail if that gets you thinking about To Do's.
• Write out your To Do's for the upcoming week by 5:00 and then set that aside. You don't have to worry about them again for the rest of the night.
• Do something relaxing: cook dinner, play with your kids, watch a movie, get a massage, find a hot tub. See if your spouse is feeling sexy.
• Before going to bed, write in a journal all the great things that happened in the previous week. Keep your mind focused on positive thoughts. If a frustration or stressful thought strikes, replace it with something good that happened that day.

The time has come to put Sunday night to bed! Just imagine how much more work you'll get done in the new week. (Wink, wink).

This article is cross-posted at Dr. Breus's Blog, The Insomnia Blog.