1 in 2 executives gets “Sunday phobia” — here’s why

The trend—which, as the saying goes, encourages people to do only the bare minimum on a Monday—is touted as the perfect antidote to the feeling of pressure and anxiety that begins to rise before the work week, often on a Sunday Night.

But not only workers experience the “Sunday Scaries”. New research now shows that even executives are not immune to the experience psychologists call “elevated anticipatory anxiety” as the weekend draws to a close.

In fact, management scares are frighteningly common.

According to a recent survey, almost one in two executives admit that their work causes them to suffer from Sunday phobias.

And executives who run large organizations are most likely to experience it, according to a survey by HR software provider Ciphr of nearly 300 executives at companies with 100+ employees.

Unfortunately, for most people running a business, doing the bare minimum on a Monday to fix a bad night’s sleep just isn’t an option.

But when leaders know the root causes of stress, they can begin to better understand the root cause of their Sunday anxiety.

Generation X leaders are more likely to feel stressed

Although nearly half of executives surveyed by Ciphr admitted to being generally scared on Sundays, for one in 20 it’s a weekly struggle – and there are factors like age, gender and remote work that can impact the likelihood of suffering from stress .

The study found that although younger executives generally appear to be more prone to the Sunday creep — 54% of respondents aged 25 to 44 experienced it several times a month, compared with 42% of those aged 45 and over — the Generation X affected phenomena most often.

According to the study, almost 10% of executives aged 45-54 have suffered from Sunday anxiety every week in the past year, compared to 4% of 25-34 year olds, 7% of 35-44 year olds. old and 1% of those over 55 years old.

Meanwhile, female executives experience more stress at the end of the week than their male counterparts. While 4% of male executives experience the Sunday scare every week, it is 7% for women.

The influence of company size

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the more people you manage, the more likely you are to experience stress.

Senior executives and leaders in larger companies with 1,000+ employees were more than twice as likely to report experiencing Sunday phobia several times a month compared to SMBs with 101-250 employees.

And any hopes that being able to work from home and avoid a strenuous Monday morning commute would help alleviate Sunday night anxiety were dashed by the study, which found remote workers were more affected.

Executives at remote-first firms were almost twice as likely to report experiencing Sunday phobias several times a month as those who work at firms that have hybrid or personal work policies.

The researchers point to “reduced social interaction” as a factor that might exacerbate some people’s anxiety.

The data shows that hybrid workers, who reap the benefits of in-person and remote work, have most likely never experienced Sunday phobia.

The top 15 things that scare leaders

• High inflation and rising prices (34%)
• Cost of Living Crisis (33%)
• Exhaustion / burnout (27%)
• Workload and to-do lists (24%)
• Economic downturn (23%)
• Uncompleted work items (21%)
• Pressure to perform / expectations of others (20%)
• Job security / job loss (20%)
• Long working hours (19%)
• Employee retention / turnover (19%)
• Wage inflation (19%)
• Concerns about business viability and profitability (18%)
• Rising interest rates (18%)
• Lead other people / the people I lead (18%)
• Growing the business and generating new revenue (17%)

Among executives suffering from Sunday anxiety, financial issues were the most common sources of stress, including the cost of living crisis, rising commodity prices, high inflation and an economic downturn.

Other stressors affecting executives who are more likely to suffer from Sunday anxiety include burnout (27% vs. 18%), pressure to perform (20% vs. 10%), working long hours (19% vs. 9%), their manager (16% vs 7%) and conflicts in the workplace (15% vs. 8%).

Claire Williams, Chief People Officer at Ciphr, commented that the top stressors identified can be grouped into three key themes relating to workload, company performance and her team.

“This is understandable because, to some extent, senior managers in any organization are expected to take responsibility for those responsibilities in managing or leading an organization,” she said, adding, “It shows that they care and that they care about the right things.”

“But when high levels of stress cause anxiety or Sunday morning creeps, it can reveal increased risks to the organization from illness, higher executive turnover, ineffective leadership, or poor performance,” she said.

“It’s definitely in an employer’s best interest to understand how their managers feel and what they can do to help if there’s an issue before it impacts the entire organization.”

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