The Monday Morning Blues
Heavy eyelids? Trouble concentrating? Whip-like temper? Sounds like someone has a case of the Monday morning blues. Turns out, you're not alone.
A recent study reported by the BBC identifies Sunday night as the hardest night of the week to get undisturbed sleep, meaning Monday morning co-workers get to witness the resulting fun firsthand.
The survey of 3,500 adults, commissioned by hotel chain Travelodge, found that nearly 60 percent of workers slept worst on Sunday.
Nearly half of those surveyed said their resulting lack of concentration led to mistakes (more about that here), one-third cited their sleepless night as a reason for being surly with bosses and co-workers, and a fifth confessed to snoozing on the clock.
About a quarter bagged the whole experience, calling in sick Monday and coming in on Tuesday.
The most common causes of the Brit's sleep disruption were work-related. Respondents there said thinking about dealing with difficult bosses, giving work presentations, and missing work deadline kept them awake.
The Brits aren't the only one to experience this disturbed Sunday sleep.
(Though they are the only one's I've seen that dreamt up a calculation to determine the most depressing Monday of each year; this year's was January 21st.)
In the U.S., NBC's Today show in November did a segment on Sunday night anxiety, finding from its own unscientific polling that Americans stressed about things such as work, whether the alarm would go off, what to make for lunch, and unfinished chores.
NBC looked to an anxiety expert to help regain their ZZZs but this study revealed a simpler solution.
Just catch up on Friday, when 80 percent of those polled reported their best night's sleep.