For many of us, the weekend effectively ends early Sunday afternoon—certainly for me, that’s the last possible second that I can hold off the crushing weight of responsibilities-yet-to-be-fulfilled and arduous tasks-to-come. The Sunday afternoon demons close in hard and fast, and before I know it the rest of my weekend is lost and I’m already mentally preparing for a dreary Monday morning.

So how can we beat dread of the impending week? I’ve compiled a list of my favorite strategies for combatting the Sunday blues.

1. Putting off Homework. It goes without saying that Sundays are a time of avoidance and rationalizations, but to elevate procrastination from mere activity to art form takes practice and determination. Sundays are a perfect time to exercise your shirking skills and flex those heel-dragging muscles. Additionally, the ensuing panic of hovering deadlines and ignored duties sure to strike at the end of the evening should be jarring enough to keep you from dwelling on thoughts of the following day.

2. Avoiding Meaningful Activity. Similarly, I find that it’s important to keep my Sundays as free from serious behavior as possible. Sure, blatantly disregarding responsibilities and focusing on pointless pastimes may hurt you in the long run, but the key to a successful Sunday is keeping your mind off of the big picture. Rather than contemplating employment, licensing, or any of countless other admirably responsible and weighty pursuits, consider focusing on webcomics or tomorrow’s outfit.

3. Distracting Yourself With Food. One of the most instantly gratifying Sunday activities, eating can turn a dreary weekend into an opportunity for creative food consumption. Personally, I prefer to diminish the gloom of my Sundays with a spirited round or two of “Find Interesting Things to Spread Nutella On.” A word to the wise: dill rye bread is not a stellar option.

4. Pointless Internet Surfing. With an endless number of hilarious but ultimately meaningless diversions to choose from (I’m looking at you, memes), the Internet offers the discerning Sunday afternoon time-killer with infinite possibilities for burning through a few late weekend hours.

5. Fantasizing About What You Could do Tomorrow Instead of Attending Class. The crux of Sunday afternoon angst is that it isn’t so much about Sundays themselves as what comes afterwards. So why not take the source of your misery out of the equation? An imaginative (or desperate) weekend daydreamer can invent countless finishes for sentences like, “If Tam was demolished tomorrow, I would ease the pain by…” Watch the afternoon drain away as you consider the possibilities. Bonus points if you manage to convince yourself that tomorrow truly holds the adventure of your dreams; just remember to stop yourself from purchasing plane tickets. The methods outlined above are by no means a comprehensive guide to Sunday survival, but they should provide a few vital tools in the fight against Monday dread. We may never fully eradicate the mysterious melancholy of the Sunday afternoon, but hopefully, with time, patience, and constant distraction, we’ll find a way to make Sundays a little less painful.