ADHD And The Sunday Shutdown
Why Sunday night wrecks you
Here’s the real reason it hits so hard.
It looks like rest.
But it feels like collapse.
That quiet heaviness sneaks in as the sun goes down. Some call it the Sunday Scaries.
But for ADHD brains, it cuts deeper.
It’s the shutdown that clamps down just when the week is about to start.
What the shutdown really feels like
I know this shutdown.
It’s the fridge full of food you forgot you bought. The calendar you can’t open. The sofa that swallows you while your brain screams:
“Get up.”
“Plan your week.”
“Don’t screw this up again.”
Sometimes you freeze. Sometimes you spin. Either way, you don’t start.
I’ve lived it for years. Even with structure. Even with wins. Even with the systems I coach.
Clients tell me the same: “I know what I should do on Sundays. But sometimes I just can’t.”
Call it what it is: your nervous system hitting the brakes.
Willpower isn’t the lever.
Laziness isn’t the story.
Sabotage isn’t what’s happening.
Treat it like a broken habit, and you add shame to biology.
That’s when it gets heavier.
So no, the shutdown hasn’t left me.
But it doesn’t run my week anymore. I stopped trying to beat it and built anchors around it.
Three anchors that hold
Here are three anchors I use.
Not to erase the shutdown, but to walk with it:
1. The 90% setup (Friday).
One short note to Sunday You: “Just check the week for ten minutes.” No planning. No colors. Just a peek. A pulse check. A soft re-entry.
2. The no-decision dinner.
Same meal every Sunday. One plate, one pan, zero decisions. It tells your brain: you’re fed, you’re safe, you’re not behind.
3. The honest text.
If Monday’s going to start slow, I text one person: “Hey, I might be foggy tomorrow. I’m fine, just recalibrating.” It cuts the shame and gives me a human tether instead of silent pressure.
Truth is, none of these erase the shutdown. But they give it edges. They keep Sunday from bleeding into the whole week.
And that’s the point.
You don’t need perfect Sundays. You need Mondays you can trust.
Sunday can drag me under.
I just don’t let it decide my Monday anymore.
If you’ve felt it too, you’re not behind.
You’re just human.
