Beating Blue Monday

As if January isn’t bad enough, today, Monday, January 15^th 2018, has been marked one of bleakest days of the year – the dreaded Blue Monday! While there is no strict science behind Blue Monday, it is acknowledged every year. With daylight hours still short, consistently bad weather along with the hangover of Christmas – financially and emotionally, still looming over all of us, it’s easy to see why the third Monday of the year is linked with lots of people feeling low. So, what can be done to battle the Blue Monday fears?

1. Get Organised

• Try and reduce stress by thinking about which situations occur regularly and cause you the most stress.
• Declutter the office and your desk space.
• Make lists so you have everything in order and you can get the most important tasks completed firstly.
• Client meetings? Plan the journey and allow extra time if it is not a journey you do every day. Look up alternative routes to have other options and make sure you have the clients contact details with you, just in case.

2. Go out for Lunch

Beat Blue Monday by organising a work lunch with your fellow co-workers. This is a great way to catch up outside of the office. A change of scene is always good so picking a new cafe/restaurant or somewhere you don’t regularly go would be a nice treat for during the week.

3. Exercise and Fuel your Body

• Regular exercise is important for our physical and mental health. It helps boost your energy levels and immune system. Fit in a walk on your break. If it is too cold to exercise outside, attend a gym class or go swimming.
• Food choices can have a huge impact on how you feel during the day. Eating healthy should be something we all do on a regular basis and just a once off to help beat blue Monday or the January blues.
• Bring your own lunch and snacks to work. This will eliminate the temptation to buy sugary and fast foods.
• Try and prepare lunches/dinners in advance and freeze them so it saves time and eliminates doing it after a long day at work.

4. Be Positive!

If you are really feeling Blue Monday, try and stay positive and make plans after work.

• If you’re lucky enough to have flexible working, use it wisely to get the most out of your evening
• Go to the cinema
• Meet friends or family for dinner
• Cook a new recipe
• Book a weekend getaway or summer holidays
• Go for a walk
• Grab a coffee and get lost in a new book
• Catch up with an old friend

5. Revisit your New Year’s resolutions

Look back at those new years’ resolutions or the goals you enthusiastically set out that first week in January. Every year we make great plans and the majority of us never follow through. It’s just human nature. For many of us up-skilling or new training may have been top of the list. It’s very easy however to quickly revert back to old habits and tell ourselves the grass isn’t always greener. Here at Leading Edge Group, we provide training to suit all learning styles and preferences – online, instructor-led at your facility for groups or participants and public instructor-led courses.

Leading Edge Group training participants also gain membership of our exclusive online centre of excellence CInnect – a centre of learning for those individuals and organizations seeking to implement and enhance continuous improvement (CI) using Lean and Six Sigma. You can view all of our training below and get started on the new you today!

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Take on the January Blues and Blue Monday by making sure to be organised, positive and healthy. Make 2018 a year to celebrate your many triumphs!

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