This Monday, the 21st of January, it will be Blue Monday. Blue Monday is the name given to the date for the most depressing day of the year. This day was created in 2005 by British psychologist Cliff Arnall. He devised a formula to determine which day of the year would be the most depressing. In this blog post you can read more about Blue Monday and what effects it has on our society.
Why this specific day?
According to mr. Arnall, the ‘Monday of the last full week of January’ is the day when most people feel sad or depressed.. This has probably to do with the following:
- Good intentions have already failed,
- Holidays seem far away,
- Days are dark.
- It’s the first working day of the week.
All these factors come together in the month of January, which is why, according to mr. Arnall, this particular day would be the most depressing day of the year.
Tips:
Work from home
Nothing as annoying as the day starts to go wrong by standing in a traffic jam or delayed public transport and arriving late at work. Try to avoid this by, for example, working from home for once. Work in the comfort zone of your own living room. Turn on the lights, turn on the laptop and go
Do something fun with lunch
If working from home isn’t an option for you, do something fun during or after lunch. Try to abandon the dark, and leave depressing thoughts for what they are. Order some goodies and afterwards, for example, go for a walk around the park with your colleagues. Nothing better than a nice meal and a dose of fresh air!
Focus on the things that go well
We all have setbacks. It is important on such a day that you focus on things that do go well, instead of things that do not go well. This way you give yourself positive energy, and that will certainly help you get through the day!
Go exercise
Last but not least: go exercise! Whether you do this before you go to work or after work, it helps you in any case. Through sports you release various substances that make you a happier person. Want to know more? You can read this article.
NiceDay app
Do you also suffer from Blue Monday? Use the NiceDay app to note what went wrong, and why that went wrong. You can learn from your mistakes. Good luck the 21st!
