The Old English word uhtceare describes lying awake before dawn, worrying. Today, the uneasy feeling that arrives before a new workweek is often called the “Sunday Blues” or “Sunday Scaries.”
People respond to that feeling in all sorts of ways: journaling, stretching, meditation, exercise, organizing, cleaning, or simply trying to ignore it. Goal setting is not a cure for anxiety, but a short, goal-oriented ritual can help you reclaim a sense of direction before the week begins.
Here are a few ways to try it.
Form goals for the week ahead
Sometimes Sunday unease comes from feeling that you lack control—that the coming week is simply going to happen to you.
For many people, Sunday is the last day of the weekend and Monday marks the return of obligations. After a couple of days spent with friends, family, nature, or rest, your time may suddenly feel less like your own.
Try creating two kinds of goals:
- A non-work goal. Choose something meaningful you can do before work, after work, or during another part of the week that belongs to you.
- A work goal. Identify one useful outcome or improvement you can influence, even if much of your schedule is determined by someone else.
Both goals should focus on what is actually within your control. If you need help shaping them, use the SMART framework to turn each idea into a clear next step.
Review last week's goals
If you already set goals for the previous week, spend a few minutes reviewing them.
Ask:
- What moved forward?
- What contributed to that progress?
- How did my environment help or hinder me?
- What did not happen?
- What should I repeat, stop, or adjust?
The point is not to grade the week. It is to carry useful information into the next one. If something did not go as planned, work through the four-step process in Attacking Failure: acknowledge, forgive, reflect, and adjust.
Give it five minutes
Choose one goal for the coming week and work on it for five minutes.
When the five minutes are over, you can stop. If you want to continue, continue. Either way, you have crossed the distance between planning and action. A small beginning can make the week feel less abstract and give you evidence that you are not completely powerless in relation to it.
Prioritize what matters
Lay out your weekly goals and ask three questions:
- How important or time-sensitive is this?
- How much stress is this creating?
- How much effort will it take to complete?
Start with genuinely important commitments. If two are equally important, consider addressing the one creating more stress. Then look for quick, useful tasks you can complete without allowing them to crowd out deeper work.
Prioritization will not make every responsibility pleasant, but it can replace a shapeless cloud of obligations with a sequence of decisions.
Visualize the result
Pick one goal and spend a few minutes imagining what completing it would look and feel like. Be concrete. Where are you? What has changed? What would completing it allow you to do next?
Visualization is most useful when it leads back to action. End by naming the smallest step you can take.
Choose a meaningful reward
Create a simple incentive for completing one of your weekly goals. It does not need to be extravagant. The best reward is something you genuinely enjoy and can offer yourself without undermining another priority.
The Sunday Blues probably will not disappear completely because you set a few goals. But goals can be one useful tool when Sunday evening starts to feel overwhelming. They can help you stop asking only what Monday will bring and start asking what you want to bring to Monday.
You cannot control everything the week will place in front of you. You can decide what you want to pursue, where you want to improve, and what you want to work toward.
If anxiety is persistent, worsening, or interfering with daily life, goal setting is not a substitute for professional support. The National Institute of Mental Health offers guidance on when and how to seek help.