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To curb 'Sunday night blues,' prep on Friday

"Monday mornings are notoriously stressful. Catching up on emails, planning the upcoming week, tackling new assignments -- all while thinking, ‘I have another five solid days of work before my next day off.' It's understandably daunting."

A new survey from online job site Monster.com finds that for most of us, Sunday nights are all about anxiety.

"I don't think anyone is happy to see their weekend come to a close," said career advice expert Mary Ellen Slayter for Monster.com. "Monday mornings are notoriously stressful. Catching up on emails, planning the upcoming week, tackling new assignments -- all while thinking, ‘I have another five solid days of work before my next day off.' It's understandably daunting."

Of the 3,600 worldwide employees included in the survey, only 22 percent said that they are never anxious about heading back to work on Monday. But 47 percent said that their "Sunday night blues" were "really bad."

Slater's advice: "If you want to reduce stress on Sunday nights, you need to improve your Monday mornings -- and that means taking action on Friday afternoons," she said. "Don't run for the door the moment your clock strikes five. Instead, spend a few minutes preparing for next week: review and prioritize your calendar, assemble materials you expect to be using, and tie up every loose end you can."

"Be mindful of where you pause ongoing projects -- often it's wise to simply finish a task you're already immersed in, rather than attempting to pick up the pieces and resume progress after two days off," she said. "If you've worked hard to improve your Monday mornings but still experience intense Sunday night blues, it might be time to consider bigger changes in your professional life."

Breaking down the numbers by region, workers from the US report the highest level of anxiety on Sunday evenings, while France claims the lowest. In Germany, 33 percent of respondents said that they never experience Sunday night blues, while only 19 percent of US respondents enjoy stress-free Sundays.

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