If you find yourself feeling low on a Sunday night or Monday morning, you're not alone.

Research was conducted to see whether altering your perception of the weekend and treating it like a proper vacation could influence participants' happiness.

They found that those who approach every weekend as a proper vacation are generally happier.

Working from home may make it feel like there are no clear boundaries between work and leisure time.

Drawing a clear line between your work time and leisure time by planning out your weekends with enjoyable leisure activities may help your mental health in the long run.

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You may get a sinking feeling in your stomach when your alarm sounds at the start of the week, you're not the only one.

It's sometimes informally referred to as Monday Morning Syndrome.

You might experience everything from insomnia on a Sunday night to "preemptive depression" on your way to work, where you feel low about the week before it's even begun.

While it's pretty common, according to a new study it is not unavoidable.

Cassie Mogilner Holmes, an associate professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, wanted to see whether it was possible for US workers to use weekends to reap the same enjoyment as from a vacation and, in turn, to boost their happiness levels.

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Holmes and her colleagues carried out an experiment among 400 working, US-based subjects.

Half were instructed to try to treat the upcoming weekend as a vacation, while the other half — acting as a control group — was asked to approach the weekend as they would normally.

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Once participants had returned back to work on Monday, the researchers followed up the experiment with a survey, evaluating their happiness.

As the results published in Harvard Business Review show, participants who had been encouraged to alter their perspective felt generally happier than the other half on returning to work.

And the evidence to support the researchers' claims doesn't end there.

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A year later, in 2018, a further 500 individuals were involved in a near-identical experiment, the only difference being that the participants were restricted in how much money they could spend.

Participants who had been encouraged to alter their perspective felt they were generally happier than the other half on returning back to work. ProStockStudio/Shutterstock

The researchers measured participants' happiness during the weekend itself, all controlling for their activities to determine whether it was really affecting their routine — and the test gave similar results.

It seems that simply making the most of your weekend by treating it like a vacation enables you to enjoy a holiday without actually having to take any leave — and may leave you better prepared to deal with the week ahead.

"Treating your weekend like a vacation can increase your happiness — and unlike taking a more traditional vacation, this emotional boost doesn't have to be expensive or time-consuming," said Holmes.