By Sunday evening, many employees are not just thinking about Monday’s to-do list; they’re bracing for the emotional toll of the week ahead. I’ve witnessed this pattern in my own practice, with clients across the age spectrum experiencing the end-of-weekend dread about returning to work, known as the “Sunday scaries.”
Their reaction is not trivial, and current data make clear why. In a newly released National Alliance on Mental Illness poll, 53% of the more than 2,100 respondents reported feeling burned out due to work demands, and 35% felt their productivity suffered because of their mental health. At the same time, slightly more than half of employees say their companies make mental health a priority, even though 84% said direct managers or supervisors are responsible for creating comfort around discussing mental health at work. Yet many managers are far too consumed with urgent issues and administrative tasks, leaving little time to devote to people development. It’s clear that burnout is not only a workload problem; it’s a culture problem. And culture changes when leaders create the conditions for candor, connection and meaning at work.
5 steps to address your team’s mental health
If you are leading others, there are immediate steps you can take to address and foster mental health on your team. First, normalize honest conversations about stress before people reach a breaking point. Ask your team, “What is feeling unsustainable right now?” or “What is getting in the way of your best work?” When you do, it signals that mental health is a legitimate workplace topic, not a taboo one. Any employee feeling overwhelmed and on the verge of burnout wants a culture where these conversations are safe.
Second, reduce burnout by creating clarity. Much of what exhausts people is not simply hard work, but competing priorities, constant urgency and the feeling that everything matters equally. Take time to clarify what matters most, what can wait and what can be dropped altogether. This gives your team a greater sense of control. Remember, you’ll need to do this more frequently as project deliverables begin to stack up. It’s one of the fastest ways to lower emotional strain.
Third, understand that your capacity to support others is a skill, not a personality trait. NAMI found that fewer than three in ten managers had received training on how to talk about mental health with their teams, yet those who did were far more prepared to support employees and far less likely to become burned out themselves. Supporting mental health cannot depend on instinct alone; it needs to be taught, practiced and reinforced. Source and advocate for mental health training if your organization doesn’t offer it.
Fourth, don’t forget about the power of fostering meaning and purpose at work. Purpose won’t eliminate deadlines or pressure, but it will change how people experience them. Help your team see how their work contributes to customers, colleagues, the mission or a larger goal. It will make their effort feel more like a contribution and less like depletion. You deepen that connection when you help people understand why their work matters, how their strengths create value and where their role fits into the bigger picture.
Finally, be a model for sustainable performance. Your team will watch for what gets rewarded. If you praise (or expect) constant availability, after-hours responsiveness and self-sacrifice, people will absorb the message that burnout is the price of being valued. But if you respect time off, encourage recovery and recognize thoughtful, sustainable contribution, it creates a healthier norm for everyone.
Burnout rarely begins as a crisis. It begins as disconnection, mounting strain and the quiet dread of doing it all again on Monday. Leaders who create clarity, normalize support and help people reconnect to purpose do more than protect mental health; they build cultures where people can thrive.
Dealing with the Sunday scaries
If you are experiencing the Sunday scaries, it is an emotional signal that something about work feels draining, misaligned or out of control. While you may not be able to fix every source of stress, start with these two practical tips for overcoming the Sunday scaries:
Spend ten minutes on Sunday identifying your top three priorities for the week. Anxiety drops when the week feels named and ordered rather than vague and overwhelming. This also gives you the framework you need for a conversation with your manager if you discover priorities need to shift or demands are unreasonable.
Reconnect with purpose before the next week and begin by asking, “Who will benefit from my work this week?” Purpose helps ease the Sunday scaries by shifting the mindset from “I have to go back” to “I get to contribute to something that matters.”
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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