The reasons for the weekend blues
There are different reasons why well-trained workers in particular are frustrated at the weekend. The fear of the stress that will arise at work in the coming week is one of them. At the weekend, affected employees are looking for strategies to get through the next week. Free time quickly becomes an unnecessary waste of time. Because instead of sitting at home on Saturdays and Sundays, they could work on urgent tasks in the office. But it is not just the actual workload that makes employees sweat on their foreheads at the weekend. To a large extent, the feeling of depression in leisure time is also related to the fact that the challenges for managers are more difficult to assess. Constant availability, overtime, and flexibility in terms of space and time are just some of the things that can put employees under stress.
Sunday neurosis: a phenomenon of the modern working world?
Another reason for the weekend blues seems to be that many executives define themselves by their work and what they do on a daily basis. This option is not available on the weekend when work is idle. So you could quickly get the idea that the weekend blues is a side effect of the new world of work. But that’s not the case. For the first time the phenomenon was described by the Hungarian psychoanalyst Sándor Ferenczi at the beginning of the last century. He noticed recurring complaints in some of his patients – always when they were off work. These were not only expressed in depression, but also in tangible physical symptoms: from headaches to gastrointestinal complaints to chills and vomiting.
Weekend blues: higher education, worse mood
The results of the study “ Rhythms and Cycles in Happiness ” can be summarized in this somewhat striking formula. The Hamburg scientists Wolfgang Maenning, Malte Steenbeck and Markus Wilhelm examined the phenomenon of the regularly recurring bad mood at the weekend in more detail. The result: men and women with a high level of education both suffer from comparable symptoms on Sundays. In fact, educated men tend to be in a bad mood all weekend long. While only men are affected by the Sunday neurosis among employees with an intermediate level of education. But that does not mean that workers with a low level of education should be envied for their good mood. This group also shows a recurring bad mood. However, towards the end of the month and probably more because money is then running out. What should not be forgotten, however: in relation, the well and very well trained employees are still more satisfied with their job and life overall than employees with a low level of education.
Help against the weekend low
That other employees are even worse off than you is little consolation. But for all those who suffer from the weekend blues, there is good news: something can be done about it:
- Seeking balance : The results of the study indicate that those employees who are strongly defined by their work suffer from bad moods at the weekend. So try to find a real balance to work on the weekend. Sports that have a competitive character, for example, offer the opportunity to celebrate successes away from work. But volunteering can also prove to be meaningful in your free time.
- Get active: Sounds simple, but it really is. Exercise can help bring your mood back up. Even a half-hour walk with moderate exercise can stimulate the circulation and thus drive away tiredness and depression. But not only that. The exercise in the open air means that we can soak up the sun’s rays. And sunlight stimulates the body to release certain hormones and messenger substances that can lift the mood – including the “happiness hormone” serotonin.
- Keeping the rhythm : Leisure Sickness is when employees get sick as soon as they are free. The reason for this: The stress level of the working week drops. Thus, infections that have been smoldering in the body for a long time can now break through. What applies to the body also applies to the psyche, and so relaxing on the weekend can lead to suppressed, negative feelings coming to light. However, if you stay in your rhythm and get up at the usual time on the weekend and also spread some appointments over the day, you can at least temporarily counteract the weekend blues
- Looking for relaxation : To concentrate exclusively on not letting any relaxation arise in the first place is also not the right way. Rather, you should make sure you get the rest you need during the work week. Autogenic training or progressive muscle relaxation are promising candidates. But there’s an even easier way: switch off your smartphone, tablet and PC and enjoy the evening
