Do you get that anxious feeling as the work week begins to approach? You’re not alone: research shows that 76% of people have severe Sunday night blues. In this video I’ll share some tips with you on how to lower your stress and anxiety levels.
1 – Realize that some level of stress and anxiousness is normal
The first step is to recognize you have these thoughts. And to harness them for something positive.
2 – Think Positive
We are often stressed because we are worried about things going poorly. Use your imagination for the positive and visualize things going well. It doesn’t do you any good to worry anyway.
3 – Keep your mind off work
If you’re sitting around doing nothing.. your brain might wander to Monday morning. So occupy your brain with things you enjoy. Exercise, video games, a hot bath, watching the sunset.
4 – Don’t check your email
This is just going to stress you out more. You’ll read about a bunch of things that you can’t really do anything about until Monday morning anyway.
5 – End the week right
End the work week with your next week planned out. If you leave on Friday already knowing what Monday looks like and what you are going to do, then you can just put all that stuff out of your head. This can be in the form of a task list, sticky notes, calendar. Something that you know when you get to work on Monday you can just pick back up where you left off, so you don’t have to think about it anymore. I like to keep Monday morning relatively free for that I also have some built in time to deal with any emergent issues. Getting Things Done gives a good approach to this.
6 – Get to sleep early
Can’t fall asleep? I’m only going to get 4 hours.. I need to sleep NOW! And then it takes 2 hours to fall asleep, and of course makes Monday worse because we are less productive because we are tired.
7 – Go on Vacation
Then you won’t be worried about Monday.. I sleep like a baby when I’m on Vacation.
8 – Change Jobs
None of this works? Need sleeping pills or anti anxiety medication to go to sleep? It might be time for a new job!