Taming the Sunday Night Scaries – Practical Strategies for Teachers to Reclaim Their Weekends

Sunday Evening

For many teachers, it’s a time laced with unease — a creeping sense that the weekend is slipping away and the week ahead is already pressing in. Lesson plans, marking, meetings… the thoughts arrive uninvited, making the last hours of rest feel heavier than they should.

This familiar feeling — sometimes called the Sunday night scaries — is more than just a passing worry. It’s a sign that our minds and bodies are anticipating the demands ahead, often before the week has even begun. But with mindful attention, it’s possible to reclaim your Sundays as a space for calm, clarity, and gentle preparation.

Understanding the Sunday Night Scaries in Teaching

Teaching is not just a timetable of lessons — it’s deeply personal, emotionally rich work that stretches well beyond the classroom walls. Even when we pack away our books on Friday, the mental load often lingers: the marking still to be done, the parent email we’ve been meaning to answer, the lesson that could use one more tweak.

By Sunday evening, it’s easy to slip into forward-focused thinking: picturing that challenging class, the upcoming assessment week, or the endless to-do list. This anticipation alone can trigger our body’s stress response, leaving us restless when we most need to restore.

Simply naming this pattern — “I’m feeling the Sunday night scaries” — is a compassionate first step towards loosening its hold. It gives us the space to respond with care rather than react with tension.

The Role of Boundaries and Self-Care

Boundaries are often misunderstood as barriers. In truth, they are gentle fences that protect our energy, ensuring we can sustain the passion we bring to our classrooms. Without them, work can quietly spill into every corner of our lives, leaving little room for rest or joy.

This might mean:

• Closing the laptop by a set time on Friday and honouring that choice.

• Keeping weekends free from school email — even removing the account from your phone.

• Scheduling activities that connect you with life beyond teaching.

When teacher preparation programs intentionally embed self-care practices into professional learning, educators report lower stress and a stronger sense of balance (Turner et al., 2021). The key is making these practices both realistic and repeatable — so they become part of the rhythm of our weeks, not just a rare treat.

Practical Strategies for Easing Sunday Anxiety

1. Create a Calming Evening Routine

Replace the last-minute scramble with rituals that soothe. A warm bath, herbal tea, soft music, or reading something uplifting can all signal to your nervous system that it’s safe to slow down.

2. Plan Without Overwhelm

If your mind insists on listing Monday’s tasks, set aside a short time on Sunday afternoon — no more than 20–30 minutes — to outline the week ahead. Focus on your top three priorities and frame them as intentions (“This week I will focus on…”) to invite clarity without pressure.

3. Ground Yourself in the Present

Anxiety thrives when our attention is fixed on what’s next. Mindful breathing, gentle stretching, or a slow walk in nature can bring you back to now. Evidence consistently shows that mindfulness practices help teachers reduce stress, regulate emotions, and increase self-compassion (Taylor et al., 2024).

4. Shift Your Perspective on Monday

Rather than seeing Monday as a mountain to climb, try framing it as a fresh start. Begin the day with something you enjoy — a quiet coffee, a favourite song on the way to school, or a few moments of journalling. Even small shifts in how we start can soften the whole day.

Reclaiming Your Weekends with Intentional Rest

True rest requires more than just being away from the classroom — it calls for mental as well as physical disconnection.

You might experiment with:

• Digital detox windows: turning off notifications and placing devices out of reach.

• Creative hobbies: cooking, painting, gardening — activities that absorb your attention in nourishing ways.

• Outdoor time: even brief contact with nature has been linked to lower stress hormones and better mood in teachers (Lau et al., 2023).

Consider a Sunday evening “closing ritual” — lighting a candle, preparing a favourite meal, or noting three moments of weekend gratitude — to gently mark the shift into the week ahead.

Building Long-Term Resilience and Joy in Teaching

While Sunday strategies can bring immediate relief, the deeper transformation comes from shaping a teaching life that feels sustainable and aligned.

Programs like CARE (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education) have shown that when teachers develop social-emotional skills alongside mindfulness practices, both well-being and classroom interactions improve (Jennings et al., 2019). And research suggests that when schools support collegial connection, provide accessible wellness opportunities, and celebrate teacher well-being, self-care becomes far more achievable (Shen et al., 2022).

Resilience is not about pushing through at any cost. It’s about creating the conditions — inside and outside of school — where you can teach, rest, and live with balance.

Final Thoughts

The Sunday night scaries don’t have to set the tone for your week. By setting clear boundaries, building intentional rest into your weekends, and reconnecting with the deeper reasons you teach, you can begin Mondays with a sense of calm and possibility.

Remember — you deserve the same care and compassion you give to others.

With calm and clarity,

Liz 💛

The Quiet Teacher

Disclaimer: This post is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical advice. If you’re experiencing chronic stress or burnout, please seek support from a qualified healthcare professional.

References

• Jennings, P. A., Brown, J. L., Frank, J. L., Doyle, S., Oh, Y., Davis, R., & Greenberg, M. T. (2019). Impacts of the CARE for Teachers program on teachers’ social and emotional competence and classroom interactions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(7), 1172–1188. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000321

• Lau, S. Y. F., Li, S. H., & Lee, A. (2023). Nature-based interventions and teacher well-being: A systematic review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 126, 104015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104015

• Shen, B., McCaughtry, N., Martin, J., Garn, A., Kulik, N., & Fahlman, M. (2022). Teachers’ perspectives on self-care: Barriers, supports, and implications. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 867433. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.867433

• Taylor, C., Harrison, J., Haimovitz, K., Oberle, E., Thomson, K., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., & Roeser, R. W. (2024). Mindfulness-based interventions for educators: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Teaching and Teacher Education, 137, 104373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104373

• Turner, S., McGinley, M., & Milner, H. R. (2021). The self-care framework for teacher education. Action in Teacher Education, 43(4), 389–404. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2021.1920566