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We all know the feeling: that subtle shift that starts sometime late Sunday afternoon. It’s the one where your mind begins racing and the weekend’s softness gives way to structure. I’m not immune to the Sunday Scaries (though yes, I genuinely love my work and my life). Still, there are evenings when Monday feels less like a fresh start and more like a looming deadline.
In searching for ways to replace that sense of dread with something more grounded—maybe even a little anticipatory joy—I revisited Camille’s Breathing Space post on her Sunday Night Toolkit. Her approach reframes the evening as sacred instead of stressful. Inspired by that philosophy, this guide is about building your own Sunday reset: simple, grounding rituals that calm your nervous system and help you step into Monday feeling clear, intentional, and at ease.
What Are the Sunday Scaries (and Why Do They Happen?)
The Sunday Scaries aren’t a personal flaw—they’re a pattern. They’re what psychologists call anticipatory anxiety: the stress we feel in response to something that hasn’t happened yet. As the weekend winds down, your nervous system senses a shift coming. Structure replaces spontaneity. Deadlines replace downtime. Even positive responsibilities can trigger a subtle cortisol spike.
Add in a little unfinished work, an overbooked Monday calendar, or a weekend that lacked true rest, and it makes sense that Sunday night can feel heavy. The good news? Once you understand why the Sunday Scaries show up, you can design your evening in a way that works with your nervous system instead of against it.
A Sunday Night Toolkit to Calm the Sunday Scaries
If Sunday anxiety thrives on transition, the antidote is intention. The goal isn’t to micromanage your evening or create a hyper-optimized routine—it’s to gently guide yourself from weekend mode into the week ahead. Think of it as a toolkit, not a checklist. Rituals, not rules.
When Camille shared her Sunday Night Toolkit, what resonated most was the philosophy. Sunday can be sacred. It can be a bridge instead of a cliff. Inspired by that mindset, here’s how to build your own Sunday reset: a few grounding practices that help you clear mental clutter, regulate your nervous system, and walk into Monday feeling prepared instead of pressured.
Start With an Anchor
Before you reorganize your week or open your planner, choose one ritual that signals the transition from weekend to weekday. An anchor doesn’t need to be elaborate, just intentional. For many of us, that starts with dinner.
A warm, veggie-forward meal that yields leftovers for Monday lunch can reduce decision fatigue before the week even begins. This can be about enjoying the ritual: chopping vegetables, stirring a pot, and setting the table. The act itself becomes grounding. When Sunday includes something that feels nourishing without being complicated, it softens the shift ahead.
Quick win: Pick one simple dinner that creates Monday leftovers—soup, roasted veggies, or a grain bowl—and double it. (You can browse our favorite Sunday dinner recipes here.)
Reset Your Space in 20 Minutes
Sunday scaries can often be brought on by the visual and mental clutter we’re carrying into Monday. A full deep clean isn’t the goal here. Think reset, not renovation.
Set a timer for 20 minutes and focus only on what will make Monday morning feel lighter: clear the kitchen counters, unload the dishwasher, toss laundry into baskets, sort the mail pile, refill your water carafe. Small acts of order create disproportionate calm. When you wake up to a tidy space, your nervous system doesn’t immediately register chaos.
This is also a good moment to prep one tiny Monday gift to yourself. Set out your coffee mug, lay out your workout clothes, or clear your desk so it’s ready for focused work.
Quick win: Set a 20-minute timer and reset the three surfaces you’ll see first on Monday morning.
Small acts of order create disproportionate calm.
Create a Wind-Down Ritual
If Sunday anxiety is your body bracing for impact, a wind-down ritual is how you signal that you’re safe. Moving from the weekend to weekday doesn’t have to be abrupt—it can be softened.
Lower the lights. Take a hot shower or bath. Make a warm drink. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb and leave it in another room. Even small sensory cues—Epsom salts in the tub, a favorite candle, clean pajamas—can signal to your body and mind that it’s time to power down.
The key is consistency. When you repeat the same ritual each Sunday, your body begins to associate it with calm.
Quick win: Dim the lights after dinner and put your phone on Do Not Disturb for the rest of the night.
Set Intentions, Not Just To-Dos
A long, chaotic to-do list can be the real culprit behind the Sunday Scaries. When everything feels urgent, your brain stays in threat mode. The shift is subtle but powerful: move from reactivity to intention.
Instead of dumping every task onto a page, zoom out first:
- Identify your top one or two priorities for the week—personally or professionally. What would make the week feel meaningful?
- List the smaller steps that support those priorities. Let your to-do list serve the big picture, not replace it.
- Write down the worries you can’t control. Naming them helps your brain stop looping.
When everything feels urgent, nothing feels grounded. Priorities create calm.
Quick win: Write down your top two priorities for the week before listing anything else.
Plan a Soft Landing for Monday
One of the biggest contributors to the Sunday Scaries? An overpacked Monday. When your calendar is stacked with early meetings, hard workouts, and high-stakes decisions, your nervous system starts bracing the night before.
If you can, protect Monday morning. Keep it lighter than the rest of the week. Block off time for focused work. Leave space for a slow coffee, a walk, or a few uninterrupted hours to get oriented. Even shifting one meeting can change the tone of your entire week.
When Monday feels spacious instead of punishing, Sunday stops feeling like a countdown clock.
Quick win: Before bed, remove or reschedule one nonessential Monday commitment.
What Makes Sunday Scaries Worse
Sometimes easing Sunday anxiety isn’t just about what you add—it’s about what you remove.
- Overpacking Monday. A stacked calendar creates anticipatory stress before the week even begins.
- Doomscrolling at night. News, emails, and social feeds keep your nervous system activated when it needs to power down.
- Skipping true rest all weekend. If Saturday and Sunday were just delayed productivity days, your body never fully reset.
- Unfinished work lingering in sight. An open laptop or cluttered desk signals “incomplete” to your brain.
- Decision overload. Starting Monday with no plan often feels more stressful than having a simple, focused one.
Awareness alone can shift the tone. When you know what amplifies the Sunday Scaries, you can gently design around it.
The Takeaway
The Sunday Scaries aren’t a personal failing—they’re a cue that your body and mind need a more thoughtful transition between rest and responsibility. When you treat Sunday night as a reset instead of a countdown, everything changes.
The goal here isn’t a perfect routine. Just a few intentional anchors: a cozy dinner, a quick reset of your space, a wind-down ritual, and a focused plan for the week ahead. Start there. And if you want to go deeper, Camille’s full Sunday Night Toolkit is a beautiful place to begin.
This post was last updated on February 22, 2026, to include new insights.
