Beating the Sunday Scaries: Finding fulfilment to end the dread

The most emotionally exhausting week of my early career was not one week – it was every week!

By Friday afternoon, I was the happiest employee in the office; the weekend was coming, and I practically floated out the door. By Saturday morning, I was on cloud nine but by Saturday evening, I started to feel my joy quietly ebbing away. By Sunday morning, a low dread had settled in – and not even the hottest Sunday sermon could effectively wage war against it. By Sunday evening, I was an emotional wreck. I hated Mondays with a passion usually reserved for traffic on the Third Mainland Bridge of Lagos.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. It has a name: the Sunday Scaries – that creeping wave of anxiety that arrives as the weekend winds down and Monday looms.

The data is sobering. An Adobe survey of over 1,000 workers found that 82% experience the Sunday Scaries, rising to a staggering 94% among Gen Z. A separate Resume.io study found one in seven employees feels this anxiety every week, and 11.7% have actually quit a job over it – with entry-level staff most vulnerable of all. This is not an imaginary problem; it carries real consequences for retention, wellbeing, and productivity.

It Is Not Always the Company. Sometimes It Is the Chair You Sit In

Here is what took me years to understand: I did not hate that company. I struggled with the specific department I was in. The work did not align with who I was or what energised me, and every Sunday my mind was simply bracing for five days of that misalignment.

Everything changed when I was moved to a department that aligned with my passion. I did not just cope; I began to fly. Same company, same commute, same terms of employment – but a completely different internal experience. The drea lifted, and Mondays became something I could face, and eventually enjoy.

This is the part most people often miss. The Sunday Scaries are not always a sign to abandon your job. They could be signals pointing to a career misalignment that needs attention. Gallup’s 2024 research shows why this matters: only 23% of employees worldwide are engaged at work, while 62% are “not engaged”. They show up, do the minimum in an uninspiring manner. Disengagement is the soil in which the Sunday Scaries grow.

In the right role, drawing on your passion and what excites you, Monday stops being a threat.

For Employees: Turn the Dread Into a Diagnosis

If Sunday evening fills you with dread, do not just medicate it with another Netflix episode. Interrogate it. Ask the honest question: is it the job, or this particular role?

Sometimes the fix is not a resignation letter – it is a bold conversation with your manager about a transfer, a stretch assignment, or reshaped responsibilities.

Audit your week. Identify which tasks energise you and which drain you, then negotiate to do more of the former. Look for small ways to inject purpose into your week — mentoring someone junior, championing a project close to your heart, or simply reminding yourself how your work connects to something bigger.

Lastly, take charge of your Sunday itself. Plan something to look forward to on Monday morning – a good breakfast, a coffee with a colleague, or making the first task one you enjoy. Give your brain a reason to lean into the week rather than away from it.

For Employers: Give People a Reason to Return

Here is where leaders come in, because your people are voting every Sunday night. If dread wins, disengagement and attrition follow. The good news: employers have real levers to pull.

Prioritise role fit. This is the big one. Have honest conversations about where people’s strengths lie, and be willing to move them into roles where they can thrive, like I was moved. A quiet transfer can save talent you might otherwise lose.

Reshape Mondays. In one organisation I worked with, we flipped the tired “Thank God It Is Friday” script and built a “Thank God It Is Monday” culture – born from my own experience. We created Monday rituals worth showing up for and celebrated wins at the start of the week, not just the end.

Protect wellbeing tangibly. Research has found that employees highly appreciate paid mental health days, flexible and remote arrangements, and a four-day-week option.

Train and equip managers. Gallup finds the manager accounts for most of the lows in team engagement. One who checks in, gives meaningful feedback, and clears obstacles is a powerful antidote to Sunday dread.

Build psychological safety. When it is safe to make mistakes, ask questions, and speak up, Monday feels far less threatening. The cost of ignoring the Sunday Scaries is counted in lost talent and eroded morale.

The Bottom Line

The Sunday Scaries are not a weakness to be ashamed of. They are a message. For employees, it is an invitation to seek alignment rather than merely endure. For employers, it is a call to build workplaces people genuinely want to return to.

I know this journey personally – from emotional wreck on Sunday evenings to someone who learned to love Mondays. The dread does not have to be permanent. On the other side of alignment is not just relief. It is joy, newly discovered passion, competence, income and accelerated growth and it is worth pursuing.