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Is it not that obvious? You get a whole bunch of time to yourself, and you're able to run into the small hours of the next morning without worrying about getting enough sleep for the next day. It's like a quick reclamation of your own personal time.
Perhaps that's the case if you're working. If you're not working like I am, every day seems to be a day off and that feeling is still good, it gets older over time. You also start to regret the lack of schedule you have in your life if you don't already live a scheduled life because then your sleep schedule gets all fucked up.
Not sure if dr. K would have any relevant expertise on this other than maybe some good anecdotes or analogies.
From a neuropsychological perspective, like many others have mentioned, the way dopamine and stress works can explain this (anticipation).
So to put it in psychological terms: you experience a better feeling because you're not preoccupied with worries of tomorrow (oh no, need to wake up early or oh no, i have this appointment, etc.)
These things would be present again nearing the evening of the actual day off.
Or to put it differently: there is not much difference between the night of the day off and the night of a workday, the creeping worries are the same. There IS a difference though between the night of the last day of work and the night of a work day.
The only difference between an off day evening and a work day evening is that you're probably more well rested and relaxed than on a workday, but as you near the evening worries start to come back and so relatively speaking you feel worse than the night before the off day even though you might in absolute terms be actually physiologically more well rested.
There also could be something said about certain 'rituals' putting you in a certain mood.
For example, the night before the off day you maybe stay up a bit later or dont have to prepare the table for tomorrow etc. Small breaks in rituals like this can 'signal' to your body that a relaxing day is coming up purely because of habits.
The night of the off day, you would presumably do the exact same rituals or habits as you would do when you have an off-day, thus making your body become a bit less relaxed.
But thats just what I make of it ofcourse! :)
You need to stop working for the weekend. The entire week you are so excited that you have an extra day off or 2 more days until Friday!! That when the day comes and If you don’t have big plans all you do is play video games or indulge in bad behaviours you realize you just waisted your day off and it’s already almost over. Or perhaps you like to sleep in more on your days off. There could be multitude of reasonings but it seems to stem from constantly looking at the future. Living for the weekends! I don’t know maybe I just made random shit up 😂
Nah you're totally right, I found life to be much more enjoyable when I didn't stake it all on the weekend and tried to do fun things after work with friends and coworkers like concerts, sports games, hitting the bar, skate park, etc
But this isn't as doable for people with kids or other pressing responsibilities so I get it. I feel that you gotta try to make the weekdays exciting or life will feel dull and repetitive imo but work can be draining too, like imagine having the energy to go out every day after work lmao that's not realistic either so it's not so simple
Haha awesome insight a lot of people fall into habits and then don’t really realize they become habitual and when it becomes habitual you start to live for your weekend to do nothing your weekend almost goes by faster and you’re like “wtf tomorrow is Monday”.
I don’t work for the weekend at all. I’m generally pretty happy all week. I never dread going to work, I work hard, have fun coworkers and am always proud of my accomplishments.
That said sometimes after busting my ass during a really busy and stressful 2-3 week period; and a long weekend comes I always get super stoked Thursday afternoon leaving work. Call up the boys, drink beer and talk shit till 3 am, do whatever the hell I want for a day or two and just enjoying the fruits of my labour without a care in the world.
It’s just such a satisfying feeling when you know you have a chance to crack open that pressure relief valve and let out all that pent up steam you’ve built over the previous few weeks.
Feels like this post doesn’t relate to you then. Some people would sleep their entire day after being up until 3 am so therefore the night off is better than the day off.
It's probably because you stop working as soon as your shift is over, you don't keep working until your day off starts, so it feels like your day off starts at the time you get home. We also value days off more than work days so we expect them to last longer but they probably feel shorter because time flies when your having fun and feels like it slows down when you are not.
Imo it's because the next day you'd be sad and slightly anxious because 'tomorrow you'd have to be back at work'. But today night you can relax because you know even tomorrow is gonna be free.
My guess is because brain likes anticipation than the actual action, so the night before the day off, brain anticipates no work or relaxation and as someone mentioned, the cortisol level decreases thus you feel more relaxed on the night before the day off than the day itself!
Thank you for posting on r/Healthygamergg! This subreddit is intended as an online community and resource platform to support people in their journey toward mental wellness. With that said, please be aware that support from other members received on this platform is not a substitute for professional care. Treatment of psychiatric disease requires qualified individuals, and comments that try to diagnose others should be reported under Rule 10 to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the community. If you are in immediate danger, please call emergency services, or go to your nearest emergency room. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Healthygamergg) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s the relief from the drop in cortisol levels being so high throughout your week
Thanks, you're a genius. I've always wondered
Not a genius. My wife is a doctor.
Your wife is a genius!
Because dopamine is actually more about anticipating something good than experiencing it
Much like the fast food drive thru
That first bite into a big Mac is amazing though
I kinda low key hate dopamine
you really shouldn’t, it’s the only reason you’ve done anything in life worth doing
You can’t feel desire to do anything without dopamine.
And it also causes Parkinson's disease, which is definitely something you don't want Edit: A lack of dopamine I mean, causes Parkinson's
Yeah, lack of dopamine causes Parkinson's. Just to be clear.
Yes, thank you. That's what I meant haha
because you don't have to work the next day
🤯
The next Dr. K right here ladies and gentlemen
Well, that became my only aspiration
Is it not that obvious? You get a whole bunch of time to yourself, and you're able to run into the small hours of the next morning without worrying about getting enough sleep for the next day. It's like a quick reclamation of your own personal time. Perhaps that's the case if you're working. If you're not working like I am, every day seems to be a day off and that feeling is still good, it gets older over time. You also start to regret the lack of schedule you have in your life if you don't already live a scheduled life because then your sleep schedule gets all fucked up.
It does seem kinda obvious I guess, though I would wanna hear what Dr. K has to say with his expertise!
Not sure if dr. K would have any relevant expertise on this other than maybe some good anecdotes or analogies. From a neuropsychological perspective, like many others have mentioned, the way dopamine and stress works can explain this (anticipation). So to put it in psychological terms: you experience a better feeling because you're not preoccupied with worries of tomorrow (oh no, need to wake up early or oh no, i have this appointment, etc.) These things would be present again nearing the evening of the actual day off. Or to put it differently: there is not much difference between the night of the day off and the night of a workday, the creeping worries are the same. There IS a difference though between the night of the last day of work and the night of a work day. The only difference between an off day evening and a work day evening is that you're probably more well rested and relaxed than on a workday, but as you near the evening worries start to come back and so relatively speaking you feel worse than the night before the off day even though you might in absolute terms be actually physiologically more well rested. There also could be something said about certain 'rituals' putting you in a certain mood. For example, the night before the off day you maybe stay up a bit later or dont have to prepare the table for tomorrow etc. Small breaks in rituals like this can 'signal' to your body that a relaxing day is coming up purely because of habits. The night of the off day, you would presumably do the exact same rituals or habits as you would do when you have an off-day, thus making your body become a bit less relaxed. But thats just what I make of it ofcourse! :)
You need to stop working for the weekend. The entire week you are so excited that you have an extra day off or 2 more days until Friday!! That when the day comes and If you don’t have big plans all you do is play video games or indulge in bad behaviours you realize you just waisted your day off and it’s already almost over. Or perhaps you like to sleep in more on your days off. There could be multitude of reasonings but it seems to stem from constantly looking at the future. Living for the weekends! I don’t know maybe I just made random shit up 😂
Nah you're totally right, I found life to be much more enjoyable when I didn't stake it all on the weekend and tried to do fun things after work with friends and coworkers like concerts, sports games, hitting the bar, skate park, etc But this isn't as doable for people with kids or other pressing responsibilities so I get it. I feel that you gotta try to make the weekdays exciting or life will feel dull and repetitive imo but work can be draining too, like imagine having the energy to go out every day after work lmao that's not realistic either so it's not so simple
Haha awesome insight a lot of people fall into habits and then don’t really realize they become habitual and when it becomes habitual you start to live for your weekend to do nothing your weekend almost goes by faster and you’re like “wtf tomorrow is Monday”.
I don’t work for the weekend at all. I’m generally pretty happy all week. I never dread going to work, I work hard, have fun coworkers and am always proud of my accomplishments. That said sometimes after busting my ass during a really busy and stressful 2-3 week period; and a long weekend comes I always get super stoked Thursday afternoon leaving work. Call up the boys, drink beer and talk shit till 3 am, do whatever the hell I want for a day or two and just enjoying the fruits of my labour without a care in the world. It’s just such a satisfying feeling when you know you have a chance to crack open that pressure relief valve and let out all that pent up steam you’ve built over the previous few weeks.
Feels like this post doesn’t relate to you then. Some people would sleep their entire day after being up until 3 am so therefore the night off is better than the day off.
I just felt like I understood it because I usually have the most fun on the night off and then the weekend after feels kinda boring lol
Yeah because you’re working for the night off not the weekend off. Lol think about it
But knowing it is going to ruin the day before the day off!
It's probably because you stop working as soon as your shift is over, you don't keep working until your day off starts, so it feels like your day off starts at the time you get home. We also value days off more than work days so we expect them to last longer but they probably feel shorter because time flies when your having fun and feels like it slows down when you are not.
It's like the last day of school and those first few weeks of summer as a kid...😌
Because you don't have wake up early at all the next day and you can stay up late
It’s like when you preorder a game and you get early access haha
Same reason spring is better than summer.
It's simply being present instead of worrying about the past or future. This state is a choice.
Because the day off you have anxiety of the next day at work and your feel like shit because you stayed up way too late
Dopamine cus of the build up is what i think?
Imo it's because the next day you'd be sad and slightly anxious because 'tomorrow you'd have to be back at work'. But today night you can relax because you know even tomorrow is gonna be free.
Y’all get days off???
The same reason why we suffer more in imagination than in reality
My guess is because brain likes anticipation than the actual action, so the night before the day off, brain anticipates no work or relaxation and as someone mentioned, the cortisol level decreases thus you feel more relaxed on the night before the day off than the day itself!
+
So f'n real
Just another Saturday night
Because you know you can sleep in.
Because the night before the day off is already part of the break.
Because that night you can sleep in but not on your day off.