The 11 emotional stages of a Sunday.

Image: Obviously, this woman is still in the ‘optimism’ stage (iStock).

Somehow, Sunday manages to simultaneously be the best and worst day of the week.

Best: it’s a glorious day off (well, unless your job requires you work weekends). Worst: your imminent return to work is constantly looming.

This push-and-pull effect results in an emotional rollercoaster, with glorious highs (brunch) and sad lows (realising you’ve done nothing all day except brunch).

9am: Hope

You’ve woken up at a civilised hour and you’ve still got the whole day ahead of you. What adventures could the next 12 hours possibly hold? Who will you see? What will you eat? How many likes will your leisurely Sunday Instagrams attract? It’s ever so exci-zzzzzzzz………..

10:30am: Guilt

So, okay, you had every intention of getting out of bed to do your thing and carpe the diem out of your Sunday, but you promptly fell back asleep. Okay, not ideal. You can’t help but mentally berate yourself. But hey, it’s all good. There’s still time! So much time.

RELATED: 15 sneaky ways to help you drag yourself out of bed in the morning.

11am: Pure, unadulterated joy

Also known as ‘brunch’* (*substitute your favourite Sunday morning activity as applicable). Life is grand. You're in your element and you feel as though you could physically burst with happiness. It's very possible this sensation is the result of the stack of pancakes you just inhaled, but it feels good regardless.

RELATED: 11 difficult scenarios all brunch addicts experience.

1pm: Optimism

Now is the business end of your Sunday, when you prepare for the rest of the week. Like the forward-thinking, productive human you are, you have a plan for the afternoon: grocery shopping, bulk cooking, cleaning the house, washing all your clothes, rearranging your wardrobe, collecting your tax papers, and figuring out your life’s purpose. You make to-do lists like the Type A wannabe you are, then, pleased with all your planning success, you decide to reward yourself and settle in for just one episode of Broad City…

1:50pm: Denial

Okay, so you're, um, two episodes in now. Oops. Another one or three surely can't hurt, you still have most of the day ahead of you! It’s Sunday, after all. The day of rest. You’re not meant to exert yourself too much. That’s the whole point.

RELATED: The genius game that will stop TV from killing you

2:30pm: […]

3:25pm: Blind panic

So you’ve taken this ‘day of rest’ thing very seriously by taking an accidental nap, and now you’ve woken up freaking the hell out. 'What time is it? Where am I? Oh #$*&! I'VE DONE NOTHING!'

5pm: Self-loathing

In your blind panic (see above), you made a scattered attempt to tick at least two things off your Sunday To Do list. You vacuumed two rooms of the house, procrastinated a little, googled some lunch recipes for the week, immediately dismissed them because you couldn’t pronounce three of the ingredients, fell down a Youtube rabbit hole, procrastinated a little more, and finally put some washing on. Reflecting on this lack of achievement sends you down a dark spiral of despair and self-loathing.

RELATED: A week’s worth of healthy breakfasts that you can actually stick to.

7pm: The Sunday Sads

The Sunday Sads inevitably strike by 7pm, when the sun’s gone to bed and you’ve reached the dregs of the Sunday that only hours ago held so much promise. This funk is only exacerbated when you go to the pantry to prepare yourself a delicious consolatory dinner, and then bitterly remember that you took a nap instead of going to the grocery store. Looks like you'll be serving up cereal du jour, yet again.

9pm: A final burst of positivity

Hurrah! There's something good on TV, or your best mate calls you for a chat, and all is looking up again. It’s not all that bad! you tell yourself. Sure, I didn’t achieve much, but at least I managed brunch! I am winning at life.

RELATED: 15 things people who are happy do differently from people who aren’t.

11pm: Resignation

Yet another Sunday is done. Monday, and its side-kick Monsieur Painfully Early Alarm, is mere hours away. There's nothing you can do now.

What does your typical Sunday look like?

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