Saturday anxiety!

The last day of the weekend has always been an unpleasant one for many and despite the fact that the features of the routine work through the week have not changed during the better part of a decade, there is something clear talk about the discomfort or even the fear that many people feel on Saturday nights about returning to work or school. This feeling, whether we call it anxiety and tension — whatever it is on a Saturday night — is offset by psychological stress on an uncomfortable Sunday for some, notably!

Instead, some jump to conclusions and reduce our ability to cope, everyone should realise that the uncomfortable stress of Sunday is ultimately manageable and they end up coping well. Indeed, the question comes up here every weekend for most people. Have you been productive enough during the week? Did you relax enough in the other two days?

However, some people may hate their jobs and do not want to return to work at the end of weakened. Yet I do not think that the hate is related to your job directly, but rather to a feeling of pressure, such as working hard to be well at work, besides pursuing or maintaining financial stability, as well as following up on the other daily responsibilities of your family for instance.

This certainly leads me to some extent towards highlighing the importance of the need to make weekends both productive and relaxing. In other words, the employee for instance needs to get the tasks done and also make sure that his spirit or body is recharged enough to get more things done during the week. Not to mention that a large number of people assert that two days are not sufficient for them, for Friday is the day to catch up, then Saturday is the only true day of rest, or vice versa for those in the private sector for example. So, once people start, they are depressed, saying: It is about to expire, you are aware of the fact that it is very short!

Perhaps you will agree with me and notice how Saturdays are busier and more closer to the days of the week than they were in past decades. Especially if we go back to the previous distant years, you will find this change more clear. I remember how the meals on weakened were used to be on Thursday and Friday at home, which occupied more than an hour and a half, while shopping was maybe for 10 minutes.

Nevertheless, one of the things that everyone realises in the week is that we have a very specific routine, which can break down at the weekend, hence this pattern produced its emotional weekly cycle, with a feeling of tension reaching its peak on Saturday morning, when someone sets for you a list of household or family tasks, for example on the weekend. I should say here that without a doubt, the most reliable way to banish the horror of Sunday for a number of people, especially if it escalates, is to exercise or walk, or even do some activities that you really enjoy on Saturday, so that you temporarily distract your mind from fears of Sunday — your fateful day.

Following certain plans for you as a person who is anxious or distressed before the workday at night, as is the case on Saturday, by creating a programme to prolong the feeling of the weekend may be very useful. Interestingly this may be through scheduling family visits and walking in the park for example. I might call here and through these words to switch to a four-day workweek, when people spend another day of vacation time. Of course, this will open up many different possibilities for doing things — YOU — as a person you really want to do and here comes the feeling of being back fresh with resilience and preparation.

Dr Yousuf Ali al Mulla, MD, Ministry of Health, is a medical innovator and educator. For any queries regarding the content of the column he can be contacted at: dryusufalmulla@gmail.com