Apparently Blue Monday is the most depressing day of the year.  This comes about from debt (could be post- Christmas or a realisation about other debt), bad weather (I get that, as I look out the window at the grey, windy, cold, rainy day!), and lack of motivation. According to research, Blue Monday is the day we are most likely to book a holiday! Therefore booking a holiday to beat the blues. What else can you do if you can’t book a holiday? Here are a few ways I’ve come up with that I think might help. 

Now, I must state that I don’t really believe in Blue Monday! In the sense that I believe we can take action every day to improve our well-being and increase our happiness.

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” Dalai Lama

But I do get that we can feel ‘blue’ sometimes. What can we do when we are feeling like this?

Do some meditation

Meditation has been a real game-changer for me and I now try and carve out 5-10 minutes to do it each day. It boosts mood, reduces stress and increases mental focus. I really like the Headspace Meditation and Mindfulness App or the Insight  Timer App. Both are free! I’m not affiliated with either of these, I just like them.

Uplifting music

You know that feeling when that amazing song comes on and you can’t help bus smile and want to dance? Yes, that!! Create a playlist of uplifting songs or find one! You can find so many on YouTube or on Spotify. I created one that I call “Cat Smiles” and it really does make me smile and uplift me.

Random acts of Kindness

I shared an Instagram post earlier in January of an infographic from Action For Happiness. This site is fab for lots of tips on how to improve your happiness. On 3rd January they suggested doing 3 random acts of kindness, why stick to that date? Doing nice things for others does all sorts of wonderful things to our mind and body. Check out the science here.

A post shared by Cat Plummer: Financial Coach (@catplummercoach) on Jan 2, 2018 at 11:33pm PST

 

Spend less time on social media

We can often feel our green-eyed monster popping up and making us feel inadequate when we check out social media. Social media has been proven recently to not be great for our mental health. Why not have a social media detox? Or do as my friend Lucy Sheridan does, and have a clear out based on her house party rules!

 

Gratitude

Here is a previous post I wrote on gratitude. It is so powerful in shifting our thinking.  Even just something as simple as writing 3 things to be grateful for each day.

Eat some feel good food

We may still be in a Christmas-hangover of eating rubbish food, it’s a habit that has been created over November and December and can be so hard to break! Try and aim for some good, nourishing food each day. Even if it’s just veggies with your dinner and drinking 6 glasses of water each day. Things like this rather than sugar and caffeine will help us to feel more nourished.

What are your tips for when you’re feeling a bit blue? I’d love to hear them! Do you do any of the things I’ve mentioned in this post?