If you’ve never heard the expression “Sunday scaries,” I’d be willing to bet you can guess what it refers to: that vague, gnawing anxiety that builds as the weekend winds down and your chaotic work week looms ever closer. The Sunday scaries are a great injustice. You work so hard to get two blissful days off and then your mind sabotages one of them?! If you share my outrage, I encourage you to read on for an expert’s take on what causes the Sunday scaries, plus how I learned to conquer them and reclaim my weekend.

Dr. Stefanie Mazer, Psy.D., is a licensed psychologist and the founder of Mindwise Inc., a boutique therapy practice focused on personal growth. With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Mazer specializes in anxiety, depression, trauma, relationships and performance-related stress.

There’s not just one way to experience the Sunday scaries; they might manifest as indecision, general angst or a vague feeling of being overwhelmed without being able to identify the cause. Or, as the expert describes it, “the Sunday scaries are a form of anticipatory anxiety that often begins late Sunday afternoon and builds into the evening, as the weekend winds down. It’s that unsettled feeling in your chest, a tight stomach, or a sense of unease that’s hard to name.”

If you’re experiencing the Sunday scares, you may have intrusive thoughts about unfinished emails, early meetings or just the pressure of shifting back into a more structured, demanding version of yourself. “The weekend offers a brief escape, but by Sunday night, the return to expectations can feel abrupt and overwhelming,” says Mazer. Worse still, the expert points out that “the mind often jumps ahead to worst-case scenarios, magnifying stress that hasn’t even happened yet.” (Omg, what if my laptop runs out of battery during the presentation tomorrow?) Needless to say, this kind of anticipatory anxiety isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time. In fact, it can disrupt sleep, thus robbing you of your last remaining hours of rest, and set the tone for a tense start to the week.

“Sunday scaries come from more than just not wanting the weekend to end,” says Mazer, adding that “much of it has to do with identity—shifting from who you are in your own time to who you have to be at work.” Additionally, the expert tells me that the anxiety might be particularly acute if your job feels misaligned or emotionally draining, because your nervous system begins to brace for that shift before it even happens.

But Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest, you say.And therein lies the great irony: “The quiet of Sunday can bring up things you’ve been avoiding all week: fear of not being good enough, guilt about not doing more, or anxiety about being judged. It’s not just dread about tasks, it’s dread about the version of yourself you have to put back on,” notes Mazer. So, what does one do with all that dread? Well, it typically just builds in the background and manifests as restlessness, irritability, or a heavy feeling that you can’t shake. Unless, that is, you have some success managing it with the following strategies.

I tried the expert’s strategies for managing the Sunday scaries, and I have to admit—they mostly worked, though I tailored them to suit my unabashed need for laziness. For starters, I broke the screen time rule a bit, but I did avoid LinkedIn and email entirely. Instead, my husband and I binge-watched a show that morning…and it was great.

After four episodes, we agreed the screen time was getting excessive. He hopped in the shower, and I used that ten-minute window to jot down a rough to-do list for Monday (return emails, reach out to sources, do laundry, work while laundry runs, watch one hour of TV, etc.). I’m a huge fan of to-do lists as a self-soothing measure, so I wasn’t surprised when it helped calm that creeping sense of dread.

Next, we decided to revive our favorite hobby—chess (it’s how we met!). We played a few rounds together and against online opponents. Not mindless, definitely meaningful. As for my nighttime routine…let’s just say I had good intentions (cook dinner, read a book) but ended up watching more TV and ordering dinner instead. No regrets—the season finale was gripping and the pizza was very tasty.

Of all the expert’s tips to combat the Sunday scaries, the to-do list was the most effective. It knocked out two strategies in one: planning ahead and facing my fears on paper. I also found it helpful to turn off the TV, because that wasn’t the most meaningful or rewarding way to engage with my partner. The takeaway? Sunday can feel restful, but you have to put in a little work in the form of mindful planning to make it that way. (And trust me it’s worth it.)

50 Affirmations for Anxiety to Calm Down Fast and Ease Distress