Sunday Night Blues

It’s been a long time since I was entitled to the Sunday night blues. You know, that feeling on Sunday night… depressed and not looking forward to Monday morning and the work week ahead.

Once I stopped working for other people, I used to get excited for Sunday night. Weird, right? I just felt so much excitement and anticipation about the upcoming week and everything I was going to accomplish. It was then that I switched to the Friday night blues… mourning everything I did not get done, even with the best intentions, planning, time-blocking, habit stacking-you name it.

Now that my true “work” has slowed down, most days feel about the same. Since my husband is retired, and I’m semi-retired, we don’t have to run errands on the weekend. But we usually do. Old habits die hard, I guess. Whatever we want to do, we can do anytime we want. For him, Sunday night is the same as any other now.

While the pressure is much lighter, the tendency to put things off is much greater. It’s easy to say, “Well, I can do this today, or I can do it tomorrow.” Guess who wins the toss in that scenario? All those time management ideals I mentioned a couple of paragraphs ago… pretty much out the window!

I have a nighttime routine and a morning routine. At night, I get in bed early, do my blog, and send my grandson his nightly “Would You Rather?” Then I do my French lessons, play Wordle with my husband, and close out the evening by playing Words with Friends. That is… as much as I can before my eyes close. I like to do these things and think that they are a workout for my mind, but some nights, the struggle is real, and I can barely get through the French lessons.

In the mornings, I like to get up super early, then have a slow, lazy start. I feel like if I get up early, I buy more time to be lazy until I have to do stuff. Weird, right? If I have an outside appointment, I’ll schedule it early to have more time in the day. But, mostly, I like a slow start. I think it’s odd that time is no longer the master, but I am pretty strict about my routines… especially at night. It just doesn’t feel right to go to sleep until all my tasks are complete!

So, do you have a “Sunday Night” to give you the blues? Do you have a nighttime routine or a special morning schedule you follow to get going? I’m glad that those blues no longer plague us. They can be a real downer… especially when you’re working on someone else’s dream instead of your own.

I’ve learned that the best strategy is to find work that you love. I know that’s easier said than done when your options are limited, and you have people depending on you for support. In that case, I suggest you think about other ways to meet your financial obligations and live a happier life.

The Japanese have a concept called Ikigai, translated to “A Reason for Being.” The optic to explain it looks like a Venn diagram on steroids. It’s actually the intersection of What You Love, What the World Needs, What You’re Good at, and What You can Get Paid For. This is said to be the secret to a long and happy life. Worth considering as an exercise, right? Check out the Ikigai diagram below. Please tell me what you think!

-Cat

Originally published at https://thehokeypokey.substack.com.