Why do I feel dread about work every Sunday night?

That sinking feeling on a Sunday evening is trying to tell you something, and you have been keeping it at arm's length until Monday forces the issue. The dread is not the enemy. It is a messenger. Pushing it down until you have to get up and go does not make it wrong, it just leaves the message unread. Dread about work usually points at a real mismatch. Maybe the work has drifted from what matters to you, maybe something specific there is grinding you down, maybe you have been running on empty for longer than you admitted. The feeling is vague because you have not yet looked at it directly. When you do, it usually has a shape. So instead of ignoring it this week, sit with it for ten honest minutes. Ask what exactly you are dreading. The tasks, a person, the whole direction, or just the exhaustion? Write down whatever comes. You do not have to fix your job tonight. You just have to stop looking away from what the dread has been trying to say.