British workers start worrying about the week ahead on Sunday afternoon – as new research reveals two in three suffer from anxiety dubbed the “Sunday night fear”*.
Unfinished tasks from the previous week, a nightmare commute and unbearable colleagues are the top three reasons for dreading Monday morning. And, one in five UK workers confessed they would ‘remove’ a particular colleague when quizzed on the one thing they would change in their job.
The results, from a survey of 2,000 UK workers, show most lose almost an entire day thinking about the week ahead rather than switching off and enjoying the whole weekend. This means if the average person wakes at 9am on Sunday, they only enjoy four hours of time not spent worrying about their job.
That’s how it feels to Love Mondays
Of those surveyed, 97 per cent cited job satisfaction as an important factor to loving Mondays. The research reveals estate agents were the most satisfied with their jobs, along with those who work in creative industries.
Public sector workers came out as the least satisfied with their roles.
Flexible working was identified by 28 per cent of workers as the most important factor towards helping them enjoy Mondays again, followed by working from home (23 per cent) and having great colleagues (21 per cent).
Mark Rhodes, Marketing Director at reed.co.uk, comments,
For some, planning for the working week ahead can go a long way to improving the feeling of preparedness for Monday morning. But this shouldn’t come at the expense of enjoying the time off you are entitled to. Whether it’s colleagues, commutes or unfinished tasks dragging you down, no-one should feel recurring anxiety over returning to work. If you find yourself really dreading returning to work on Monday, it may be time to consider a new role.
Loving your job means something different to everyone, so really focus on what matters to you: whether it’s flexible working, achieving that long-awaited promotion, stepping up a pay grade, or simply working with colleagues who are pleasant and co-operative. If you can’t see it happening in your current role it might be time to make a change and banish the Sunday night fear once and for all.
*By Reed
Aphrodite is a creative writer and editor specialising in publishing and communications. She is passionate about undertaking projects in diverse sectors. She has written and edited copy for media as varied as social enterprise, art, fashion and education. She is at her most happy owning a project from its very conception, focusing on the client and project research in the first instance, and working closely with CEOs and Directors throughout the consultation process. Much of her work has focused on rebranding; messaging and tone of voice is one of her expertise, as is a distinctively unique writing style in my most of her creative projects. Her work is always driven by the versatility of language to galvanise image and to change perception, as it is by inspiring and being inspired by the wondrous diversity of people with whom paths she crosses cross!
Aphrodite has had a variety of high profile industry clients as a freelancer, and previously worked for a number of years as an Editor and Journalist for Prospects.ac.uk.
Aphrodite is also a professional painter.
