22 tips for 2022: To avoid Sunday scaries, end your weekend on a high note

A lot of us fall into the trap of saving up work we have to complete over the weekend for Sunday evening — and that can make the last part of our weekends feel a lot like, well, Monday.

To avoid the "Sunday scaries" — the pressure to catch up on work before the work week — get catch-up work done earlier in the weekend, so the last thing you do before Monday is something fun.

Cassie Mogilner Holmes, associate professor of marketing and behavioral decision making at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, has a suggestion to take it even further: Treat the entire weekend like a mini-vacation and don't work at all on Saturday and Sunday. People who do this stay in bed a little longer, cuddle with their special someone a little more, or spend a little more time eating and less time on housework and job responsibilities — and start the new week feeling actually rested.

Mogilner Holmes says the weekend-as-vacation mindset helps you be more connected to the present moment. "Time kind of stops a bit," she says. "It's like you're finally taking a breath."

Here's more on how to have a good weekend.

22 tips for 2022 is edited and curated by Dalia Mortada, Arielle Retting, Janet W. Lee, Beck Harlan, Beth Donovan and Meghan Keane. This tip comes from an episode of Life Kit reported by Sam Sanders and produced by Sylvie Douglis.

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