Sundays can be rough—and not just because your team lost again. The way you pack work and errands into the last day of your weekend may explain why Sundays suck, finds a new Canadian study.
Compared to 30 years ago, people now spend almost twice as much of their Sundays on job-related work, according to activity data collected from more than 50,000 people. Time spent on household chores, taking care of kids, and shopping also jumped from 2.9 to 4 hours per Sunday. Meanwhile, time spent socializing with friends, reading, watching television, or engaging in other leisure activities has plummeted, the study shows.
If you compare these same figures to our weekday habits of the early 1980s, none of the changes are nearly as drastic, researchers say. In other words, Sunday used to be a day of rest, but that’s not the case anymore. As a result, anxiety levels on that day have jumped since 1983, and people report feeling less freedom to do the things they enjoy.
So what’s the key to sunnier Sundays? Give yourself a real rest from your responsibilities—at least for a few hours, the study suggests. Even back in the early 80s, Sunday mornings tended to be a time for errands and obligations. Use a task-scheduling app like Clear ($1.99, iOS) to get things done in the A.M. so you can relax in the P.M.
And don’t spend half the day catching up on shuteye. Throwing off your usual sleep-wake cycle by loafing in bed on Sundays may also explain why you feel down (and can’t get to sleep) at the end of your weekends, indicates research from the University of Michigan.
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