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TODAY viewers weigh in on Sunday anxiety

Parents across the nation share their thoughts and concerns about weekend jitters and how they try to juggle all their chores before the start of the workweek.
/ Source: TODAY

Do you often feel overwhelmed and nervous on Sunday nights, knowing how much work awaits you? You're not alone. TODAY viewers across the nation share their thoughts and concerns about weekend jitters and how they try to juggle all their chores before the start of the workweek:

I often cannot get to sleep on a Sunday night. My mind starts to wonder into the realm of "what if." What if the alarm doesn't go off in the morning? What if my daughter doesn't remember to turn in the latest class assignment the 2 of us have worked on most of the weekend? What if my son doesn't remember to tell the football coach about his dentist appointment so he can got out of practice early? What if my challenged child has another "episode" before school, will my boss be understanding one more time as I run home to deal with it? My husband tells me to relax and get some sleep, I toss and turn in bed while my husband (bless his soul) quietly sleeps besides me and I check the alarm — again. Yes, Sunday anxiety is a reality. I would love to know if more moms feel it. — Alira O., Spanish Fork, Utah

I definitely have Sunday night anxiety every week. I three children — twin girls and a son, age 10, who has ADHD. I work full time and my husband is a police officer who works nights. My husband usually works at least 3 doubles a week on average. He is not usually home most mornings or evenings.

Between working, coming home, doing homework, cooking dinner and getting everyone ready for bed I am exhausted. That does not include any appointments. I usually spend my lunch hour running errands or making phone calls. I usually try to do laundry and pick up the house in the morning before I go to work. It is so hard to be able to afford a home and the things the kids want without working full time. — Kimberly G., Tiverton R.I.

I am completely stressed by Sunday evening because I know that the next week will hold just as much work as the last. There is never time to rest! Every week is the same. Too much to do at work and too much to do at home.

My week is spent going to the gym at 5 a.m. in order to not feel guilty about missing a minute with my daughter in the evenings. Then, after a 9-hour day at the office I come home to pick up messes, make dinner and do dishes.  After an hour or so of playing "dolly" with my daughter after dinner, it's time for a bath and then bed for her.

From 8 -9:30 p.m., I spend time with my husband trying to stay connected in a crazy world. 9:30 is my bedtime because I have been up since 5 a.m. and will get up at 5 a.m. the next morning to repeat everything again!

The weekends are no better because they are spent doing everything I am not able to do during the week like going to the grocery store, preparing meals for the following week, changing bed sheets and cleaning potties! What a glamorous life! — Cindy H.

I actually hate Sundays! I would love to get up late and lounge around reading the paper, but I have to get the laundry done for the week, check [my] kids' backpacks  and prepare for the week ahead. I have to be sure everyone did their homework, that the house is "clean" and the groceries are bought and put away. My older daughter plays competitive soccer so we are usually at games at home or out of town with soccer. If we are out of town, then we have to travel home and that makes things more stressful. When we are home then the girls (I have two) want to have play dates, or do fun things that are just really hard to fit in with everything else!

By bedtime, which is always later than it should be, I am so wound up that I need a sleeping pill just to ensure I do sleep! I work as an insurance agent during the week and my husband and I own a party rentals business, which means work spills over to the weekends a lot. My weekends are jammed packed and Sundays just don't wind up being much of a "day of rest"! But what can I do? — Jennifer O.,  Knoxville, Tenn.

It started for me as early as high school. I dreaded Sunday, because all it did was herald in a week of stress and demands. Now that I'm in the professional world it's worse. Generally, all of my worst meetings and tasks are loaded in the beginning of the week, which makes it even worse!  Some Sunday nights, I can't even enjoy television or playing with my newborn daughter because I am so freaked out about the coming week. The kicker? The week's usually not so bad. — Christopher K., Rochester, N.Y.

Sunday night anxiety hits me very hard. The dread of starting a new workweek often makes me physically ill. This carries into Monday morning. Many times I've actually thrown up before work or on the way to work because of the stress. 

I'm the mother of two and also a manager at a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company. I finished my college degree while working full time & raising my kids.   

The anxiety has gotten somewhat better as I've aged & become more secure financially. I still don't think I'll be worry free until I hit the magic 55th birthday. At that time if I'm severed from my job I should at lease get medical insurance benefits.  

But now I have a rowdy 17-year-old I constantly worry about. So as stress about my job has lessened, worry about him has increased. — Melanie, Cleveland, Tenn.

What you call "Sunday night anxiety," I named "60 Minutes-itus." Started years ago and continues today ... When I hear that stopwatch ticking, I knew my weekend was over and the stress would start to kick in (e.g., what didn't get done over the weekend, what things faced me in the coming week, how was I possibly going to manage?) — Nancy S., New York, N.Y.

For many years I have suffered from what I call Sunday night insomnia. I feel panicked after dinner time wondering if I completed or even remembered everything I needed to accomplish before the next week. It seems there is always one more thing to do before I can settle down. It could be folding that last load of laundry, checking my 9 year old's backpack or remembering to put lunch money out for my teenager. When I finally force myself to go to bed, I can't sleep or I wake every 1/2 hour or so and look at the clock and think about what I should be doing or what all I have to do when I arrive to work. I even feel anxiety over whether or not any of my staff members may be ill the following morning and will need job coverage. 

I've tried everything from scratching off to do lists, writing notes in the middle of the night or calling/emailing myself at work as a reminder to use over the counter sleep aids to get a couple of hours of sleep.  After years of this, I still have not found the answer. The Monday morning alarm still feel like such a curse (and by the way, I use two alarms, just in case) and I don’t think I will ever get used to the insomnia hangover! — Jayma C., Lexington, Ky

Absolutely! I'm in total "go mode" during the week (day job) and on Saturdays (house cleaning, family stuff). Come Sunday, all I can think of is "what do I need to get done and ready for the week?" Is the laundry done and put away? Is the house straightened up? What all is going on this week?  Do I have dinner set for the week? What about lunches? And then some days I realize, "Wow, I forgot to go to the grocery store!" A couple Monday mornings I've even realized that I forgot to wash my daughters sheet and blanket for daycare.

I wouldn't trade my jobs (wife, mother, professional) for anything. However, some days it feels like if I had another mind to do the worrying, I'd be set. — Mary M., O'Fallon, MO

I am not a mother, but that doesn't mean the anxiety is not limited to only them. I work full time, take care of my home and husband, enjoy a social life dance ballet and run sometimes 20 miles a week. By Sunday evening as I watch my husband chill on the couch watching football, I have become a crazy woman cooking, cleaning, laundry and what ever else I put off since the start of the weekend. I never expect to sleep well either. My mind wanders excessively for hours and then I toss and turn until my alarm goes off. As a woman I am unsure as to why we can't shut down and relax. Why do guys have all the luck!? — Ivy L., North East, Maryland

Sunday nights are a total horror for me.  I can always count on insomnia due to the anxiety of the upcoming work week.  It's been going on for years, on and off.  What needs completed, what I didn't get answered over the weekend via blackberry, what problems are unresolved, etc.  I've always heard that Monday mornings are the most popular times for heart attacks due to Sunday night anxiety.  Not sure if it is true or not, but it appears to be a logical correlation.  — Patricia B., Virginia Beach, Va.

Sunday nights are the worst nights of the week for me. I will go to bed, but will not fall asleep for hours. Turning the wheels off in my mind is sometimes impossible. I stay up thinking of every possible scenario that could take place at work that week. Is the boss going to yell at me? Am I going to have to crash and burn on a quick suspense assignment? Did I do something wrong the week before, and am I going to have to hear about it this week? Is something going to happen to my family (who lives away from me) this week? When I eventually do fall asleep, sometimes 4 hours later. I start off the work week exhausted, since I didn't get enough sleep on Sunday night.

No matter how much I exercise, eat right, try to relax, or try and convince myself that everything will be OK, Sunday night anxiety is something that I now expect and have learned to live with. Like any athlete getting ready for a race, or any person putting up a defense mechanism, Sunday night anxiety is the workaholics way of physically and mentally preparing for the work week. — Melissa H., Alexandria, Va.