Most people will tell you they don’t love Sunday evenings. In fact, a whopping 76 percent of American workers say they get the Sunday-night blues, according to a 2015 Monster survey. Even if you love your job and typically look forward to getting back into the swing of things, “it’s easy to feel a bit of trepidation on Sundays about the stresses waiting for you on Monday morning”, writes Laura Vanderkam in her book What The Most Successful People Do on the Weekend. Experts say there are certain things successful people do at the end of the weekend to combat those Sunday-night blues and prepare for the week ahead. Here are some of them. They plan something fun – “This idea may be the most important tip,” Vanderkam writes. “This extends the weekend and keeps you focused on the fun to come, rather than on Monday morning.” Vanderkam quotes Caitlin Andrews, a librarian, who says her extended family gets together for dinner almost every Sunday, alternating houses. “It takes my mind off any Sunday night blues that might be coming on,” Andrews says. You might also make Sunday a movie or spa night, or you could join a Sunday-night bowling league. They organise and plan for the week ahead – some successful people like to look at their calendars on Sunday night and set goals and deadlines for the coming week, career coach Marsha Egan says. The trick is to do this without stressing yourself out. They exercise – take a walk, play a game of tennis, or go to a class at the gym, Egan suggests. Vanderkam writes in her book that reality-TV producer Aliza Rosen does hot yoga at 6pm on Sundays. “It’s a great way for me to sweat out the toxins of the week and center myself for Monday,” Rosen told Vanderkam. They eat something healthy – it might be tempting to wind down with a couple of glasses of your favourite Cabernet, but as licensed counsellor and Urban Balance CEO Joyce Marter points out in an article for PsychCentral, alcohol is a depressant that will leave you feeling less energised in the morning. “Instead, make a healthy meal and enjoy with some herbal tea or some seltzer water with lemon,” she writes. They read – most successful people read every night before bed, so Sunday-night reading is part of their routines. They also use this time to catch up on reading that has been neglected. They return calls, emails and texts – Sunday nights often allow us the undivided time to return phone calls from friends or family and to respond to texts or personal emails we didn’t have time to get to during the week. They unplug – after you finish responding to emails and texts, or returning calls, unplug for a few hours. Truly successful people do anything but work right before bed, especially on Sunday night, career expert Michael Kerr says. They don’t obsessively check their email, and they try not to dwell on work-related issues. They volunteer – “(Another) great way to end the weekend is to volunteer,” Vanderkam writes in her book. Nothing will take your mind off any stresses in your life like serving people who are less fortunate, she says. “It’s a way to connect with humanity before everyone goes their separate ways for the week.” They plan out their sleep – “Much has been written around the dangers busy people face running chronic sleep deficits, so one habit I know several highly successful people do is to simply make it a priority to get enough sleep – which can be a challenge for workaholics or entrepreneurs,” Kerr says.