Have you ever felt the “Sunday Night Dread”? The “Sunday Night Dread” is a phrase I coined to express the feeling you get every Sunday night before going into work on Monday morning. It’s that feeling of not looking forward to what you’re going to face the next day.

You’re not looking forward to facing your email, your boss, that colleague that you don’t like so much, that project which has been a bear. In short, you feel unmotivated, overwhelmed, and underprepared. Whatever the reason may be, the “Sunday Night Dread” is real and we have all felt it at one point or another whether in school, at work, or in business. Admittedly, I have too many dreaded Sunday nights myself. So since it’s such a common feeling, and since the feeling of dread is a close cousin of fear, what follows are some strategies I have used personally for overcoming the “Sunday Night Dread”:

1. First, take a moment and breath alone, lay on the floor for 15 minutes away from everyone and everything, in a dark and lonely room. Get centered and calm.

2. Second, confront your week head on, pull out your schedule, pull out your to-do list, prioritize the most wildly important items, and plot them on your schedule. Be sure it’s realistic. A highly efficient person can accomplish 5-7 things, assuming there are no obstacles. Realistically, we should schedule no more than 1-3 really important things per day.

3. Next, take one easy action on your to-do list and do it right then and there. This should be something you could accomplish in 10 minutes or less. This will pick off some low-hanging fruit, get yourself a quick win, and start your week with some momentum.

4. Finally, reward yourself in a way that is healthy and meaningful.

Question: How do you overcome the ‘Sunday Night Dread”? What strategies have you used or seen that work so that you can enter the week with ease, poise, and a place of strength? You can leave a comment by clicking here.