When I was in elementary school, I'd get what I called "Sunday headaches". Nine out of 10 Sunday afternoons I'd have a headache that was more often than not accompanied by an upset stomach. My parents had a weekly ritual of going for a Sunday drive with us after lunch, and I assumed my Sunday ailment was carsickness, even though I never got carsick during any other car ride. I'd sprawl out in the back seat, kick the seat, and whine about wanting to go home.

Finally, someone had a brainwave and deduced that my Sunday headaches were stress-related, caused by me freaking out about having to go back to school on Monday morning after the weekend. The prospect of the weekend ending was so devastating to me that I'd get physically ill, week after week. I didn't even particularly dislike school. I just enjoyed the weekends so much that the idea of them coming to an end was enough to make me sick.

Lately I've been experiencing Sunday sickness again, and I'm not talking about hangovers. By the time I've shifted out of work mode, it's generally Sunday morning and I'm thinking, Oh shit. Back to the grind tomorrow.

Then the symptoms start. A little headache. A little indigestion. I start watching the clock...ten more hours until I need to go to bed...nine hours...eight hours...

I add more and more items to my Sunday to-do list. Gotta get one more thing done! Need to clean the bathroom! Should take advantage of the nice weather!

I'm working, cleaning, doing errands and basically panicking for the latter half of Sunday until I fall into bed feeling more exhausted and less rested than I did at the end of the work week, and totally unprepared for Monday morning's craziness. Don't get me wrong--I'm not a 9-to-5er and I'm completely OK with getting work stuff done in evenings and on weekends; in fact, that's when I am often most productive. And what sucks more than coming home from a full workday and having to get groceries, clean the bathroom, or do a mountain of laundry? At the same time, I can recognize when I need a time-out.

For example, yesterday started off splendidly...brunch with Peter, kickboxing class...but quickly went apeshit when I spent six hours working on a strategic plan for a client, doing laundry, and trying to plan my upcoming work week, all the while doing that annoying clock-watching and trying to cram in one more task. At 10:00 p.m. I collapsed into bed totally zonked and sad about how I'd spent the latter part of my day. I got a lot done, sure, and I was happy about my progress. But I felt like I needed another day to recover.

This has got to stop! From now on, I'm taking back Sunday. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, after all. It shouldn't be a day of stressing and rushing around and to-do lists WITH ALLOTTED TIMES FOR EACH TASK (have I mentioned I'm anal?) That's disgusting.

New Sunday Rules:

1. I will not do anything work-related on the laptop on Sunday between the hours of 12 noon and 9:00 p.m. If I want to work on something in the morning or do a last-minute email check later in the evening, that's OK...but that's it.
2. I will not venture into a mall or grocery store on Sunday.
3. I will spend a maximum of two hours on chores--be it housecleaning, baking, or errands.

This coming weekend is going to be deemed Weekend of Fun and Frolic. I'm making zero plans and I don't even care if I get out of my sweatpants for two whole days. I might even boycott showers. The point of a weekend is to relax, refresh, and above all, not work. This weekend, I will be enjoying a full day of not working. Sunday is going to be my new favourite day of the week.