Dealing with *that* Sunday night feeling

We've all felt this at some point haven't we? The utter dread in the pit of your stomach when you realise that the weekend is coming to a close and Monday is starting again. It's horrible, and it always seems especially tricky at this time of year. The evening seems to absolutely whizz by when it starts to get dark at 4pm and it just leaves the day feeling so damn short.

I was petrified that starting a 9-5 job would make me feel this on a horrific level, as I have done in the past, but I'm not struggling *too* much at the moment, so I thought I'd share today what I've changed to help things get better. Sunday nights used to be a time for tears, both when I was at school and when I'd worked Mon-Friday 'normal' hours jobs. I find it upsetting to even think back on, let alone be in that place again, and whilst I find the feeling creeping in a little now and again, I really feel for everyone that's truly suffering with it at the moment.

The first thing I'd really look at is why you're feeling rubbish. This is something that I learnt to tackle through my CBT, and it can be really hard to do. Narrow down exactly what it is about Monday that you're not looking forward to. Is it the early morning? The commute? The fact that you've had a nice weekend and that you don't want to go back to reality? The job itself? People at work? All of the above? Sometimes I found myself looking at Monday and realising that I couldn't pinpoint anything, and just had a feeling of overwhelming dread at the idea of work in general. If you can figure out what it is that's really upsetting you, look into ways you can change it. I know this isn't always possible, but if things don't change, then it's hard to make things a lot better.
Having said that, I feel like I'm really nailing Sundays at the moment, and it's making everything a whole lot better. The number one thing is to get your shitty chores done on a Sunday morning. My least favourite chore is cleaning out the pets (it just takes so long), and getting it out of the way makes me feel so relieved. I used to leave it to do on a Monday or Tuesday and I just had the whole idea of it hanging over my head, making me feel as though my evenings during the week would be rubbish as well as the day times. 
Prepping for the morning is also a great way to help you first thing on Monday, and last thing on Sunday. Get your work clothes cleaned, ironed and laid out ready for the morning. Make your lunch, pack your bag and get everything ready for you to leave. This way you can spend an extra few minutes in bed, which is definitely needed on a chilly Monday morning. If you do it fairly early on Sunday, then you also don't end up rushing around stressing because 'omg I don't have any clean work clothes to wear tomorrow help HELP'. 
Spend your evening doing whatever makes your anxiety ease off. For me, having a long soak in the bath with a book, followed by putting on some cosy PJs does the world of good. Order some takeout, snuggle up with your pets, eat some choccy; do whatever puts your mind at ease. Something that I find really helps with this is using soothing scents. Spraying my clothes with a lavender linen spray (which sounds pricey, but they sell them in Homesense for £3/4), can really help to make me feel a lot less anxious about the coming week. I've also got an aromatherapy candle (again, a Homesense bargain for £6.99) that really helps to soothe my nerves. These things don't have to cost a bomb, and they can really make a difference.
I've also started to think about the week ahead, trying to make it less horror-filled. Monday nights are now sushi nights with one of my best friends. We totally take advantage of Yo Sushi's Blue Monday deal, and it gives me something to look forward to when I'm feeling down on Sunday. It means that Monday isn't *just* a work day, and that I'm actually looking forward to it. At the moment I'm trying to schedule one or two things like this every week so that the Sunday blues don't feel too bad. 
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