Introducing: Death to Sunday Scaries

Actionable insights on navigating the wide range of thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations that accompany our life's work.

May 28, 2023

The Sunday evening I decided to create a change, I was sitting at my cluttered desk, dreading another week in a job I didn’t enjoy.

Back then, I was living with a constant sense of unease.

Each Sunday, I would draw out the weekend by distracting myself from the thought of the upcoming workweek. Back then, I hadn’t heard of the “Sunday Scaries,” all I knew was that my work-life plagued me with anxiety and despair. As I put off dealing with this, I felt drained and demoralized at the start of each week.

Suffering often comes from resistance.

For a while, I neglected that I had the autonomy to make a change in my own life.

I finally confronted this, and on a fateful Sunday, in May of 2013, I made a life-changing decision. I quit my job without another one lined up. I knew I could no longer afford to numb or suppress the signal that something was off.

I commit to embracing the Sunday Scaries as a signal for change.

This weekend marks the 10 year anniversary of learning to listen to the discomfort in my mind and body.

Back then, my greatest struggle was feeling stuck in a job that didn't feel like me. All I had to rely on was my desire for personal & professional growth. I recognized I could learn from the experience, even though I felt stuck and defeated.

So, I built a new habit. When dread and unease crept into my mind, I’d ask myself why I felt this way, or what types of changes might improve my life. This prompted me to more closely attend to my emotional experiences, so I could better understand them.

We experience the Sunday Scaries on a range of emotional experience.

It can feel like anything from a nagging overwhelm or generalized anxiety to full-body experience of dread, rage, or paralysis.

Prolonged and unaddressed, these feelings will drive unhelpful behaviors (like procrastination), cause physical illness, and do long-term damage our mental health.

Often, we don’t recognize what is happening because the conditions cloud our mind, but the people around us tend to notice.

This presents another challenge: We tend to feel alone in this fight.

I’ve spent over a decade focused on this subject, including hundreds of conversations in and out of the workplace, so let me assure you of just how universal & pervasive this problem is.

So what can we do about it? First we must be able to identify and name these feelings, and only then can we figure out what to do with them. This is where emotional intelligence and self-awarness come into play. (Skills that everyone can develop.)

Once we’ve listened to the signal, we can experiment with creating change.

I’ve found that there are 3 core areas we can focus on:

job role & responsibilities
work & home environments
our own mindset

We can’t change these all at once, but we can play with each one until we’ve found the true meaning of the so called “work-life balance” we crave.

Today, my mission is to help others conquer their Sunday Scaries and reclaim a sense of alignment between work & life.

I want to share my story and strategies, and enable others to recognize and confront the root causes of their feelings & emotions. In each edition of "Death to Sunday Scaries" (formerly Field Notes), I'll share inspiring stories, valuable insights, and actionable practices to help you thrive on the emotional side of work (and life.)

So, “Field Notes” has evolved into “Death to Sunday Scaries.”

Upon reflection, calling this work my “field notes” felt too passive. I’m not here to report findings. I’m here to fight for a fundamental change in the way work.

I aim to share fresh insights every 2 weeks. If you know someone who would benefit from conquering their Sunday Scaries, feel free to forward this newsletter to them.

Wishing you a Sunday filled with inspiration and possibility,

Ryan Giordano

Death to Sunday Scaries