Anxiety And That Sunday Evening Feeling!

As I write this article, it is Sunday night; I have the football playing on my second computer screen, and I am thinking about Monday and what is on my list of things to do, my appointments, and other commitments.  I’m busy, really very busy, and I also have to fit in a trip to the gym ......and I’m thinking about my vacation to Europe in a month’s time and, blah blah blah!

You get the picture. It is all rather busy, and honestly, I don’t think anyone would hold it against me if I felt an itsy bitsy little bit overwhelmed, and yet I am very relaxed. In fact, not at all overwhelmed! 

So, it got me thinking about a time a decade ago when I still lived in London and worked as a lawyer in the City. It reminded me of conversations I had with fellow lawyer friends about their Sunday evenings and how they were frequently filled with anxiety. We were all the same. It would get to Sunday evening, and suddenly that feeling would hit like a truck. The joy and fun of what you did over the weekend suddenly halt. The worries and anticipation about the work week ahead and who or what would ruin your day first could overwhelm and beat every positive and joyful feeling from the weekend out of you. That assumes you were not working all weekend, which was so frequently the case! 

And honestly, even with the benefit of hindsight, it is still unclear whether many of those feelings were justified. Were they interpretations or facts? Do we just allow ourselves to fuel feelings of overwhelm and dread for nothing? We add anticipation to false interpretation allowing your mood to take a nose dive, so you start to feel the dread and associated feelings even without the justification to do so. 

So, everything becomes a problem. You look around your apartment, thinking about everything you failed to achieve. The lack of food in the place or, god forbid, clean socks or underwear! Then you check your work email because clearly, you need to add a little more fuel to the fire, and if you are not being irritable with those around you by this point, I’m really impressed!  I'll be even more impressed if you get much sleep after all that. Either that or you are telling fibs, but I won’t hold it against you. I get it; you are embarrassed.  So, please do me a favor and stop beating yourself up right now. 

So stop allowing yourself to get into a Sunday rut and start enjoying your weekend more.....In an ideal world, I suggest you relax more, adopt a healthy, preferably vegetarian style diet, sleep well, meditate, make healthy choices, get to the gym, then modern art galleries, and spend plenty of time organizing yourself……But really! Listen, I was a lawyer; I was always too busy with “important” things to do anything else, and I get it........

Every Sunday, I would make myself almost ill with anxiety at what was coming the following morning, let alone the week. With the best will in the world, any high-stress job is going to mean you have enough to think about, so in lieu of all of those fantastic healthy choices, which by the way, are really good ideas, just try taking it a bit easier and give yourself a break so you can try to get rid of those Sunday evening blues. You deserve to take baby steps to make significant changes to your life.

So here is the pitch, but it is not for sales; it’s a life-choice pitch! When you work with a life coach, they have been trained in skills and tools to help make your life better, and as someone who has been through the process of transformation with my own coaches over the last five years, trust me, it really does work!

When I partner with people, I encourage them to make project plans for significant areas in their lives to maintain clarity, momentum, and traction. I hold them to account without overwhelming them, and I support them. They suffer breakdowns as, ultimately, these can and frequently will lead to beautiful breakthroughs!  

So, as you read this on your Monday journey into the office, please take a moment to think about the message I am sharing with you. When I reflect on my past life and how I live now, I wonder what all the Hubba and wasted time worrying about silly things were about.

So, just to remind you, it’s Sunday evening. I am thinking about how busy my Monday and the rest of the week ahead are. I have so much going on! No problem.  I’ve got this all-in hand! Time to have a great night’s sleep. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to a stress-free productive week.