The worrying pattern is killing off your productivity
Do you dread Sunday evenings? Do you go to bed with an anxious knot if your stomach? You may be suffering from the ‘Sunday Scaries’.
Once upon a time it was the Monday Blues that got employees feeling down, but our dread of returning to work has seeped into our weekends.
A recent report form Robert Half found that 38% of workers experience dread on the Sunday night before going back into the office. Shelley Passingham of Robert Half added: “The ‘Sunday Scaries’ occur when workers feel high levels of anxiety Sunday night before the start of a work week. It can make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep, puts people on edge, and leaves some with a racing heartbeat and sense of dread.”
There are five main causes of this panic which employees detailed in the survey:
- Heavy workloads or project deadlines – 40%
- Not liking their job duties – 21%
- Having a challenging relationship with their manager – 13%
- Conflicts with coworkers – 5%
So, what does this mean for organizations and their productivity?
“The business world is moving faster than ever, and employees may feel there’s mounting pressure in terms of looming deadlines and heavy workloads,” continued Passingham.
“Workers may feel obligated to check in and respond to email on weekends – and even something as small as scrolling through emails may be enough to set stress levels on high heading into the week as employees are faced with everything they need to get done.
“Ultimately, stressed out employees can have detrimental effects on the department or company, including decreased morale and productivity, and increased turnover.”
Instead, HR should try to mitigate the effects of depression before they come to fruition in employees. Passingham suggests constant communication.
. “Talk to employees to pinpoint triggers and implement stress-relieving solutions; do weekly check-ins with each individual to discuss workloads and whether help needs to be brought in or deadlines shuffled to help manage any potential stressors.
“It’s also so important to foster a healthy work-life balance for employees, and lead by example as a manager. If you’re checking in on weekends, chances are you employees will start to get the sense that they need to as well.”
Do you suffer from Sunday Scaries? Tell us in the comments.
