Blue Monday, third Monday of January and by all accounts labelled ‘the most depressing day of the year’.
Why Is January 20th Significant This Year?
20th January, you may not like labels, and it might be wholly undeserved, but here we are. 20th, you are really in for it this year, not only are you ‘Blue Monday’ but it is also Inauguration Day in the USA, with Donald Trump stepping back into power. So, depending on which side of the fence you sit on, for the other side of the pond, you may have either totally forgotten it’s ‘Blue Monday’ or be feeling very blue indeed.
Is Highlighting Blue Monday Counterproductive?
I do sometimes wonder if drawing attention to the fact that a day is supposed to be depressing magnifies its effect. Personally, I was lucky enough to wake up feeling chipper this morning, and all the more so after hitting the gym and having my first coffee.
Mind told us on LinkedIn this morning that Blue Monday was made up by a travel company to sell more holidays. Maybe it is a real thing, and it’s the reason why at 7.45am this morning I was researching a trip…
That said I do spend a good portion of my working day dealing with some very stressed HR professionals, and also supporting them in relation to issues relating to employees and mental health. Blue Monday doesn’t need to be just one day of the year, for some, most days are a Blue Monday and it’s crucial that we don’t minimise the struggle through ‘token days’ like Blue Monday.
Whilst I am in no way a qualified mental health expert, here are some top tips from my time working in HR and Employment Law:
Top Mental Health Tips for Blue Monday
- Take some time in each day for you, your thoughts your needs and wishes and your wellbeing. Whether that is ten minutes to go have a cry, or coffee with the sunrise on your face, or an extra-long hug with a loved one. Recognise the moment for what it is and relish it.
- If you are struggling, if the pressure is becoming very real and you are struggling to cope. Please talk to someone. Talking is a pressure release, they won’t have the answers and may just be a listening ear but the power of talking should never be underestimated.
- Got a problem that feels unsurmountable. Very rarely does anything need an immediate, this second resolution. Put it down and walk away from it for a minute ten minutes. Talk out loud about the problem, go for a walk, read something else. Give your mind time to find perspective, rarely are things as bad as they first seem and allowing yourself time to digest something will often produce more creative results, or allow you to realise it’s not the be all and end all you first thought. Our brains are brilliant at overreacting to things, let it cool off, then come back, take a deep breath and dive back in.
- 99% of things can be fixed, managed, mitigated, or apologised for. The world doesn’t end. Even the 1% that we can do nothing about, well we can’t do anything about it, it’s out of our control and the reality is, the world still won’t end. You are at this point in life having met challenges, this will be another one that you will look back on, having learned something about yourself, how to problem solve and found a new strength or skill. Take the positive, the learning and move on.
If today is a Blue Monday for you, please talk to someone, but remember. You got this.
Is Your HR System a Cause for a Blue Monday?
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