The fact of being anxious on Sunday evening would be linked to your professional activity.
- Among employees, a drop in energy was observed on Sunday evening and a boost in energy was noted the next day.
- The Sunday night blues, i.e. a feeling of depression, is caused by emails received over the weekend, unfinished work from the previous week and the pressure to complete tasks.
- To prevent its occurrence, it would be necessary not to send e-mails to its employees on the weekend, to make a point with them on Friday and to organize “positive interactions” on Monday morning.
Every Sunday evening, it’s the same scenario: you’re down and you’re depressed about going back to work on Monday morning. This feeling is called “the Sunday night blues”. According to researchers at the University of Exeter (UK), more and more people are feeling it since the pandemic.
This depression would not be linked to the fact that you do not like your job, because even employees who are not unhappy at work or like what they do can have a lump in their stomachs every weekend. “Everyone, at every level of an organization, regardless of seniority, industry or work habits, has experienced the Sunday night blues”said Paul Devoy, managing director of Investors in People, who worked in collaboration with the university.
A drop in energy on Sunday evening
But what are the origins of the Sunday night blues? This is the question that British scientists have asked themselves. To answer this, they made a study. For the purposes of their work, the team interviewed 656 employees using an online questionnaire. The participants had to give information on their feelings on three Sundays and Mondays in order to measure their level of energy. According to the results, the volunteers reported having a drop in energy on Sunday evening and an energy boost on Monday morning, which the authors believe may contribute to the onset of the Sunday evening blues.
Sunday night blues: what factors can trigger it?
In their research, the scientists explained that e-mails received over the weekend, unfinished work the previous week and the pressure to complete tasks may be responsible for the Sunday night blues. “Our study has shown that blurring the boundaries between home and work can worsen the Sunday night blues experience. Boundary erosion is an issue we’ve all experienced since lockdown and is impacting our welfare”, said Ilke Inceoglu, author of the work.
To fight against the Sunday night blues, researchers advise managers not to send e-mails to their employees on weekends. They also recommend that they check in with their teams on the progress of tasks on Fridays. As for employees, they should make a list of their future tasks before leaving for the weekend. Another tip: organize “positive interaction” with the employees on Monday morning.