University students are very familiar with the “Sunday Scaries,” roughly 10 hours full of deep reflection regarding the events of Saturday night and anxiety over the impending week. Although many cringe at the thought of them, I love the Sunday Scaries — in fact the Sunday Scaries are keeping my life together and my GPA afloat. 

Sunday Scaries make academic weapons out of students. Nothing motivates library time more than thinking about the copious list of assignments due within a 24 hour time span, those painful 11:59 p.m. Sunday evening deadlines and the sheer amount of skim-reading required so as not to fall behind in class. For reasons like this the library is a quiet but bustling hotspot for students on Sunday afternoons – and for those riddled with anxiety, power hour has never come easier. 

Similarly, I believe the Sunday Scaries have made me into a better person given the weekend reflection and personal humbling they prompt. For one, I’ve become quite the stress cleaner. I simply cannot reflect on weekend events in the horrid state of my room, so a deep cleaning is triggered every Sunday morning; there’s nothing like a pile of dirty clothing to get the Tide Pods going. Productivity is at an absolute peak on Sundays for me – the time crunch between study groups and homework leaves little room for dilly-dallying. Anxiety over the impending week makes me more organized and forces me to plan ahead, mapping out meetings, office hours and practice schedules to find and calculate my free time for the week. 

Although the Sunday Scaries have prompted me to become more organized and make the most of my Sundays, they can also severely overwhelm students and leave them feeling helpless. I think a trick for managing the Sunday Scaries is to learn from them, by developing a routine and acknowledging that everyone faces them. When faced with an overwhelming amount of work, I’ve found making a list of priorities for the day to be especially helpful in getting big assignments done and staying organized. Tackling big projects and getting necessary chores earlier in the day helps me feel like a weight’s been lifted come Sunday night. Online forums recommend treating yourself and making an effort to do something you like, whether it be getting All Star mid-morning or going for a run to take your mind off the day ahead. 

The Sunday Scaries don’t have to be as scary as they’re made out to be. Weekends are often what you make of them, giving individuals the power to determine just how scary their Sundays are. Planning ahead for homework purposes and maybe crossing a task or two off on Friday afternoon may be a good solution to lessen the load on Sunday and relieve some stress. Mindset is also instrumental in individuals approaching the Sunday Scaries. If you thrive under pressure and can work for hours on end when motivated, they might be your cup of tea; if that’s not the case, understanding that you have the opportunity to impact, even improve, your Sunday Scaries through planning ahead and approaching them with an optimistic mindset may be the best way to go.