Sunday scaries meaning: dread before the work week
The Sunday scaries are the anxious, heavy feeling that creeps in on Sunday afternoon or evening as the work week gets closer. It's an informal phrase for a common feeling, and 70% of professionals say they've had it.
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It's 4 pm on Sunday, Lucia, and the Sunday scaries have arrived right on time.
What did they mean?
Filed under S jargon.
What the Sunday scaries are
Sunday scaries meaning, in plain words
Sunday scaries means the anxious feeling that arrives late on Sunday as Monday gets closer. People use it for anything from a low mood at 4 pm to real dread about their job.
Where Sunday scaries comes from
The phrase first shows up in a 2009 Urban Dictionary entry. A 2013 article suggested it started around New York City, and by 2014 a podcast was named after it. The same feeling also goes by the Sunday blues, a milder name.
How common the Sunday scaries are
Seven in ten have had them
In late 2024, 70% of professionals worldwide said they’d had the Sunday scaries. The share was about the same at every career level.
| Professionals who | Share |
|---|---|
| Get them every week | 36% |
| Get them about once a month | 30% |
| Get them just a couple of times a year | 14% |
| Are at least somewhat happy with their jobs | 68% |
What the dread is about
Mostly it’s workload, like unclear tasks and work left over from last week. The feeling often lasts past Monday morning.
| Professionals who | Share |
|---|---|
| Blame uncertainty about their tasks | 36% |
| Blame unfinished work from last week | 35% |
| Blame the Monday to-do list | 33% |
| Blame looming deadlines | 26% |
| Blame the boss’s behavior | 26% |
| Feel it all through Monday | 32% |
| Still feel it on Tuesday | 22% |
| Have trouble sleeping on Sunday nights | 42% |
| Have taken a sick day because of it | 39% |
How people cope
The most common way to cope is to work on the weekend. So the fix for dreading Monday’s work is to start it on Sunday.
| Professionals who | Share |
|---|---|
| Work on the weekend at least now and then, for fear of falling behind | 72% |
| Binge their comfort shows | 40% |
| Say working remotely would help | 40% |
| Say a four-day week would help | 39% |
| Want less micromanagement | 32% |
The Sunday scaries at the office
A Sunday, hour by hour
The feeling builds through Sunday afternoon and evening.
- 4 pm: The light changes, and so does the mood.
- 6 pm: The email app shows 14 unread.
- 8 pm: You remember the thing you promised for Monday at 10.
- 11:30 pm: Still awake, rehearsing the standup.
The calendar does it
The trigger is usually something on a screen, like a Monday 8:30 am invite with no agenda and nine people on it. If your hybrid schedule or a return-to-office policy has you in the office on Mondays, Sunday night also means looking up the trains.
Taking the edge off
Plan Monday before the weekend starts, and keep Sunday evening for something else.
- Write Monday’s first three tasks on Friday before you log off.
- Book Monday from 9 to 10 yourself, as a block called “inbox”.
- Plan something on Sunday evening that isn’t work.
- If it comes every week and it’s heavy, talk to a friend, a doctor or a work wife.
A Sunday text with Sunday scaries in it
Group chat “Floor 3”, Sunday 6:12 pm
Sunday scariesMonday dread are here and it’s not even dark. Just got an 8:30 invite called “Quick alignment”, nine people on it. If it’s a reorg I’m taking the long way to the office.
The countdown in the other direction
Friday afternoon brings the opposite feeling. Our how long until Friday countdown shows the wait for Friday down to the second, and is it Friday yet answers with a plain yes or no.
Of all the entries in our corporate jargon dictionary, Sunday scaries is the one people had felt before they ever heard the name.
Sunday scaries in a sentence
It's 4 pm on Sunday, Lucia, and the Sunday scaries have arrived right on time.
Checking my inbox on Sunday evening only makes the Sunday scaries worse, Bram.
Our manager sends the weekly priorities at 7 pm on Sunday, Ana. Nobody needed help with the Sunday scaries.
Since we moved to a four-day week, Jorge, the Sunday scaries have moved to Monday night.
Questions about the Sunday scaries
What does Sunday Scaries mean in urban dictionary?
Urban Dictionary defines it the same way everyone else does, as the anxiety that builds on Sunday about the week ahead. Its first entry for the phrase is from 2009.
Is Sunday Scaries a hangover?
It can be, since the phrase also covers the anxious, foggy end of a big Saturday night. Most people use it for work dread, with or without the hangover.
How to fight the Sunday Scaries?
Deal with Monday on Friday. Before you log off, write down your first three tasks, so there's nothing left to plan on Sunday. Book something for Sunday evening that isn't work, and keep work email closed until Monday.
How common are the Sunday scaries?
Very common. In late 2024, seven in ten professionals had felt them, and more than a third got them every week. Most of the people asked liked their jobs, at least somewhat.
Why is my anxiety so bad on Sundays?
Usually because the work week is close and something in it feels unsettled. In a late-2024 survey, the top triggers were unclear tasks, work left over from last week and the Monday to-do list. Worry about what's coming, rather than what's happening, is called anticipatory anxiety.