Blue Monday

Have you ever heard of blue Monday?

According to a very basic Google search and re Wikipedia, Blue Monday is a phrase coined in 2005 and it is unofficially known as the “ saddest day of the year”. According to Pseudoscience, Blue Monday typically falling on the 2nd or third Monday of January.

Interestingly enough the creator of this theory not really for mental health reasons but he came up with it in connection with his work with a travel company. However they did come up with a sort of scientific calculation for how they got this date. According to the Press release in 2005, it was calculated by taking into account various factors, which included debt levels, temperatures, days until the next bank holiday, the number of days since pay day and average hours of daylight. Re Wiki, it also uses factors including, low motivational levels, and the feeling of a need to take action. Obviously, there is no real or concrete data to show that this is truly the saddest day of the year but what are you thoughts on the mid January Slump?

Personally I believe in the slump in January and as someone who struggles with SAD ( seasonal affective disorder) and regular depression mixed with complicated grief ( we are having a good time over here lol) I feel it hard!

To Combat Blue Monday and January as a whole, here are sone things I’m doing in January to stay the course:

Moderation vs Restriction:

I haven’t engaged in things like Dry January or a Complete “no spend January” for a while. Instead I am trying to employ moderation to help me feel better and stick to my goals.

  • Goals like drinking no more than once a week and being intentional about the quantity help me to not go overboard if I do have a drink

  • Intentional spending and tracking my purchases to pinpoint what I am spending my money on help me to be more concise about my spending.

    * *Additionally I have unsubscribed from clothing store emails and have muted accounts on socials that tempt me to spend money on purchases that I do not need.

Social Interactions:

  • I’m trying to focus on spending time with people who fill my cup doing activities that fill my cup. The cold and the darkness can definitely be a barrier in spending time out of the house or isolating. I am trying to be intentional about either calling a friend, inviting a friend over or getting myself out of the house at least once a week to intentionally see a friend

Grace and patience:

  • I give myself a lot of grace in January that I am not going to magically change all my habits overnight but instead giving myself time to fall into new routines I want to put in place.

    **For example I want to cook more, so my goal is to cook at least 4 times a month. Personally if I were to try and cook 4 times a week I would burn myself out and would unintentionally start to give up on my goal as a whole. 

These are just a few things that help me in January! How do you Kick the blues in January?