'I'm Not Scared Of Sundays,' Says HubSpot CEO, Who Beats The Sunday Scaries By Simply Working Through The Weekend

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Adrian Volenik

Sun, May 18, 2025, 1:01 PM 5 min read

A Different Kind of Sunday

"I'm not scared of Sundays,” Rangan said on the recent episode of the “Grit” podcast. “I enjoy it because it's my time. I get to decide what I'm learning, what I'm doing, what I'm thinking, what I'm writing. It is completely my schedule.”

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Her version of a day off? Saturday. She completely disconnects from work after Friday night and doesn't pick it back up until Sunday morning. No emails, no messages, not even from the board. That one-day break is non-negotiable.

Then comes Sunday, which for her is anything but restful. She turns it into a dedicated workday: reading, thinking, planning, and writing. It’s her time to prepare for the week ahead with focus and intention, without interruptions. "It is completely my schedule," she said. By the time most people are still winding down their weekend, she's already scheduled a full set of Monday morning emails, often timed to hit inboxes at 5 a.m.

This rhythm, she says, keeps her balanced. It’s her way of eliminating the dread many feel about Mondays—by turning Sunday into a day of action instead of anxiety.

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Work Stress Isn't Rare, But Her Solution Is

Rangan's approach may sound intense, but she's not alone in working this way. A recent survey by HR software firm Ciphr shows that stress and anxiety about the workweek are widespread among senior managers. Nearly half – 47% – of the 265 UK senior managers polled said they felt the Sunday scaries multiple times over the past year. About 13% felt them multiple times a month, and 5% said they felt them every week.

Only 8% of respondents said they had never experienced the Sunday scaries.

The top three causes of stress among senior leaders were high inflation and rising prices (34%), the cost-of-living crisis (33%) and burnout (27%).

Workload and to-do lists (24%), economic downturn (23%) and unfinished work tasks (21%) are also some of the reasons.

Rangan, who leads a company with more than 9,000 employees and billions in revenue, says the key to avoiding burnout is to find a rhythm that works and stick to it.

“Peak performance requires peak rest,” she said. So she made a rule: “I’ve said to people that I will not respond on Saturday.” Even when board members send emails, Rangan says she holds firm to her Saturday boundary and doesn't reply.

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When Rangan took over as CEO in 2021, it wasn't under normal circumstances. HubSpot co-founder and then-CEO Brian Halligan was injured in a snowmobile accident and suddenly out of commission. Rangan, who joined as chief customer officer in 2020, stepped in.

“He said, ‘Remember I told you if I ever got hit by a bus, you’d have to run it? I need you to run it.'”

Rangan accepted the interim CEO role, thinking Halligan would eventually return. He didn't. Six months later, the board made her appointment permanent.

Since then, she's guided the customer relationship management and marketing automation platform through pandemic growth, a sudden market slowdown, and the rise of AI. Each year, she says, requires reinvention.

"Every year I’ve been CEO, I’ve had to reinvent what I’m doing and my mental constructs," she said. “Every year, there’s something completely different we’re trying to drive.”

Rangan's no stranger to pressure. She grew up in a 350-square-foot home in a small Indian town. She came to the U.S. with $300 and worked her way up through engineering and sales. Even now, she says, she often feels “behind.”

“I’ve embraced that discomfort," she said. "If I’m not learning, I’m behind.”

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