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Emerson | Wellness > Mental Health

How to Survive the Sunday Scaries

Sage Ancowitz Student Contributor, Emerson College
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Emerson chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Everyone hates Monday’s but perhaps Sunday’s are even worse — You don’t want to get out of bed, you only eat junk food (which is totally okay), and all you do is doomscroll hour after hour after hour. If you relate to any of that, then this guide is perfect for you!

Okay, so this is what you’re going to do

Schedule:

Sleep in because you deserve it, but don’t sleep past 11

Go get brunch in the dining hall or treat yourself to coffee and a croissant from Tatte or The Thinking Cup

Now get the worst stuff out of the way aka homework, packing, cleaning

Take a walk to release some of that stress, or if it’s too cold out, do a quick ten minute pilates sesh in your dorm

Buy yourself a little treat!

Take an everything shower

Cozy up in bed or at your desk and do something you’re passionate about (reading, writing, drawing, playing an instrument, coloring, etc)

Indulge for dinner and get takeout from El Jefes or PickN’Roll

Put on a movie or tv show that you just want to get lost in

Make yourself a cup of tea or hot chocolate and plan three things to look forward to

And finally, do your skincare routine, put on some pajamas, and settle into bed for some journaling before you fall asleep

Treat yourself ideas

  • Flowers
  • Lip balm
  • Ice cream
  • Face mask
  • A pastry

Book recommendations

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

If you want a book that will fill you with motivation, Carrie Soto is Back by Emerson Alumni and New York Times Bestseller Taylor Jenkins Reid is perfect for you! 

This book follows retired tennis player Carrie Soto as she comes out of retirement to get back her record even though she isn’t as agile as she used to be. She must swallow her pride to train with the man she once almost opened her heart to, but Carrie is willing to do anything to win again.

Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

More in the mood for a book that matches your Sunday energy? Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake is an intimate study of time, space, and love that will make you lost and found at the same time.

Regan is a bipolar counterfeit artist that believes all people are predictable, including herself, but she yearns for a little chaos to change the dreariness of her day to day life. Aldo is a doctoral student managing his wild thoughts by calculations of time travel and he is the exact opposite of Reagan, yet still he also feels stuck by inevitability. Until the two meet and six conversations change everything.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

If you want a cute romance novel then Beach Read by Emily Henry is going to be the book for you. 

The book follows two writers, January and Augustus, who don’t exactly like each other but end up staying in neighboring beach houses to work on their novels. Tthey both have severe writer’s block and after many nights of struggling with their stories, they decide to challenge each other to get out of their creative ruts by swapping genres. She’ll take him on field trips that are straight out of a rom-com montage and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a death cult. A perfect deal! Everybody will finish a book and no-one will fall in love. Right?

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty

Lastly, if you’re truly wishing to escape from reality then you’re going to love The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty! 

This is a story about magic, mayhem, pirates, sorcerers, and forbidden artifacts but most of all it is a story about a mother aching for one last adventure before officially leaving a life of crime behind. When Amina receives an offer to track down her comrade’s kidnapped daughter and in return finally secure her family’s future, Amina can’t say no so she rounds up her old crew and sets off. However, she soon realizes that there’s more to this girl’s disappearance than she was told and the risk of seizing glory might be too high of a price to pay.

Movie Recommendations

Runaway Bride

Runaway Bride starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere is the perfect love story to watch when you’re feeling down. It follows a reporter who writes a story about a woman who has left a string of finances at the altar, but he’s fired for not fact-checking the story. If he wants his job back he must meet with the woman and write a truthful article, if only to prove that she’s truly heartless, but she’s not what he expected and soon sparks begin to fly.

Available to watch on Paramount + and Netflix

The Life List

In the mood for an extra cheesy rom-com? The Life List follows a young woman on a quest to complete her dead mother’s last wish, leading to the woman discovering family secrets, romance, and herself.

Available to watch on Netflix

The Polar Express

Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, this movie will give you all of the cozy winter vibes and definitely cheer you up! It’s about a young boy who’s grown skeptical of Santa’s existence until he’s invited onto a train that stops in front of his house on Christmas Eve set to travel to the North Pole.  

Available to watch on Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max 

Journal prompts

  1. How do you want the week ahead to go? And how can you make it happen?
  2. One small win of the day
  3. What is something you’ve always wanted to implement into your life but haven’t?
Sunday Playlist

Thank you for reading and I hope this helps you beat the Sunday scaries!

Sage Ancowitz is a fiction writer in her sophomore year at Emerson College. She also has an associates degree in English Literature from Lake-Sumter State College.

She was born in North Carolina but lived most of her life in Central Florida, where her love of the ocean and her passion for storytelling bloomed.

In her free time, you can find her at a cafe working on her novel or reading a fantasy book. She loves self-care and having movie nights with her friends, as well as singing badly to Chappell Roan and Renee Rapp songs