Sunday Scaries or Sunday Claries?

When Your Weekend Dread Becomes Your Mosquito Buzz

A few years ago, my wife would often dislike me on Sunday nights. I don't even like to think about how much of a jerk I must've been. But it was true. I detested Sunday nights with a passion, all because of one thing: Monday.

After dinner, I started to dread waking up on Monday to the same old blah. I'm not sure my wife could say which sank faster—my mood or a large stone dropped into the deep end of a pool! Those Sunday evenings were horrible. The train was scheduled to drop me off at the station Monday morning, and the only ticket I held said "More of the Same Ahead."

Sound familiar? If you're nodding your head right now, welcome to the club nobody wants to join but somehow 76% of working Americans have a membership card for. That's right—according to recent studies, three out of four people experience what's now called the "Sunday Scaries"—that delightful cocktail of anxiety, dread, and existential questioning that hits somewhere between Sunday dinner and Sunday bedtime.

But here's what I discovered after my own departure from the corporate world: those Sunday Scaries aren't just anxiety. They're your inner mosquito buzz trying to tell you something important.

The Sunday Scaries Epidemic: You're Not Alone in Your Dread

Let's talk numbers, because misery loves company, and apparently, we've got plenty of it. LinkedIn's recent research shows that 76% of workers experience Sunday anxiety, with millennials leading the charge at 81%. But it gets better—or worse, depending on how you look at it. The anxiety typically starts around 3:47 PM on Sunday afternoon. That's oddly specific, right? It's like our collective internal clock has been programmed to start the Monday morning panic at precisely the moment we should be enjoying the last few hours of freedom.

The symptoms are as varied as they are universal: difficulty sleeping Sunday night, checking work emails "just to get ahead," that sinking feeling in your stomach, and the inexplicable urge to do literally anything except acknowledge that tomorrow exists. Some people clean their entire house. Others binge-watch Netflix until their eyes hurt.

But here's the thing that nobody talks about: the Sunday Scaries aren't really about Monday. They're about the growing realization that you're living someone else's life.

Your Mosquito Buzz is Trying to Save You

As I share in my book You're The Shift, there's this concept I call the "mosquito buzz"—that annoying little voice hovering nearby that keeps whispering there's something bigger for you. Most of us treat it like an actual mosquito—we try to swat it away because it's easier than dealing with what it's trying to tell us.

Sunday Scaries are your mosquito buzz cranked up to eleven. They're your subconscious mind's way of staging an intervention. Think about it: if you absolutely loved your job, would Sunday nights feel like a funeral elegy for your weekend? If you were on the path you were meant for, would the thought of Monday morning make you want to hide under your covers until Tuesday?

The answer is probably not. And that's actually good news.

Your Sunday anxiety isn't a character flaw—it's intelligence. It's your inner wisdom recognizing the gap between where you are and where you're supposed to be. It's like having a smoke detector for your soul, and it's going off because something's burning.

The Sunday Night Mood Ownership Challenge

Here's what I learned during my own Sunday night transformation: You can either own your Sunday night mood, or your Sunday night mood can own you.

When I was stuck in corporate blah-land, my Sunday night mood owned me completely. It dictated how I treated my family, what I ate for dinner, whether I slept well, and how I started my week. That mood had more control over my life than I did, which is both embarrassing and enlightening when you really think about it.

But there's another option: you can start leading the dance with your discomfort instead of letting it lead you.

This doesn't mean positive thinking your way out of legitimate job dissatisfaction—that's like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. Instead, it means recognizing that your Sunday Scaries are data, not destiny. They're information about your current situation, not a life sentence.

From Sunday Scaries to Sunday Action (Without the Overwhelm)

When those Sunday evening blues start creeping in, there's a better way to handle them than hiding under a blanket fort with a bag of chips (not that I've ever done that... multiple times).

The key is recognizing that your Sunday anxiety is actually your inner wisdom trying to stage an intervention. Instead of numbing it with Netflix or wine (guilty as charged on both counts), what if you could transform that uncomfortable energy into fuel for positive change?

I've developed a simple 5-step process that helps you turn Sunday dread into Sunday clarity—without the overwhelm of trying to overhaul your entire life by Tuesday morning. It's not about toxic positivity or pretending everything's fine when it's not. It's about learning to lead the dance with your discomfort instead of letting it lead you.

The framework helps you move from "I hate my life" to "I'm ready to do something about it" in a way that feels manageable rather than terrifying. Because the last thing you need when you're already anxious is a 47-step action plan that makes you feel even more overwhelmed.

The Sunday Night Success Story

Remember that awful Sunday night I mentioned at the beginning? The one where my mood sank like a stone? That was July 2023. By August, I was unemployed and terrified. By September, I was writing again for the first time in years. By October, I was building something I actually cared about.

That Sunday night in July turned out to be my last Sunday night of dread. Not because I magically learned to love my job, but because I finally started listening to what my mosquito buzz was trying to tell me.

The next Sunday after my departure from corporate life, my wife said something I'll never forget: "I haven't seen you that relaxed in years." I hadn't even realized how much tension I'd been carrying until it was gone.

Here's what nobody tells you about answering your mosquito buzz: the relief is immediate, even when the future is uncertain. The moment you start moving toward what you're meant for—even if you don't know exactly what that is yet—the Sunday Scaries start to lose their power over you.

Your Sunday Night Transformation Starts Now

So here's my challenge for you: this Sunday night, instead of dreading Monday, try listening to what your anxiety is actually telling you. What if your Sunday Scaries aren't the problem—what if they're the solution, trying to get your attention?

What if that pit in your stomach isn't weakness—what if it's wisdom?

What if your weekend dread isn't evidence that you're broken—what if it's evidence that you're ready for something bigger?

The Sunday Scaries have been trying to save you from a life of blah. Maybe it's time to let them.

Your mosquito buzz is waiting for you to listen. And trust me, it has some pretty good ideas about where you should be heading next.

Ready to turn your Sunday Scaries into Sunday clarity? Join the Horizon Matters newsletter and get my complete 5-step SHIFT framework for transforming weekend dread into purposeful action—plus weekly insights on leading your own comfort zone dance and finally answering that mosquito buzz that's been trying to get your attention. Because life's too short to spend every Sunday night dreading Monday morning.