Blue Monday
It’s mid-January, the sky is grey, and the weather forecast is gloomy. Welcome to Blue Monday, officially the most depressing day of the year in the U.K.
Why “Officially” the saddest day?
In the middle of January, several forces affect the nation's mood. And those forces are fairly constant. On their own, they might not have much of an effect, but together, they create a uniquely challenging situation.
The Weather
By the middle of January, our weather patterns turn wet, cold and eventually snowy. Not the glistening white slopes and kids making snowmen sort of snow, more the slushy grey stuff that turns to hidden ice or dirty mush underfoot. The type of weather that everyone hates. And, of course, we secretly enjoy moaning about it.
Money, money, money (the lack of)
We’ve probably overspent during the festive season, the credit card and loan repayments are starting to bite, and if we got paid before Christmas (as happens in many companies), it’s an extra long wait to payday.
This is no joke. Combined with high inflation (especially on food prices), energy bills, interest rate rises, higher mortgages and rents and the real value of wages lower than ever, almost everyone is feeling the economic pinch. Having to watch what you buy, turning the heating down or even off, and counting the days until you are paid, it’s enough to make anyone feel low.
New Year’s Resolutions
Two weeks in from starting off a new behaviour, such as stopping smoking, dry January, losing weight, exercising or any other major change we aim for as part of the “New Year, New You” mindset, is one of the risky points.
Keep going through, and you will likely make your change happen, falter now, as 81% of people do, and you might fail. Setting yourself up for more dents in your confidence, self-esteem and dissatisfaction.
If you are tempted to fall off the wagon now, do your best to push on through for the next week, it will get easier, I promise. If you have already given up, be kind to yourself and start again, but be less ambitious. Small changes made consistently are far more likely to last than trying to overhaul behaviours in one fell swoop.
What are your ways of coping at this time of year?
Please share anything that has helped you through, or that you are trying right now to get you beyond Blue Monday and is positively moving you forward. We would all love to hear from you.
