5 happy-tips for Blue Monday

Blue Monday is the day on which people feel the saddest or most depressed. At least that’s what Fliff Arnal, a British psychologist, says. This is somewhat due to the combination of shorter days, colder temperatures and the throwing overboard of the good intentions that many had started. In addition, there are not many festivities planned in January. At Alert we don’t believe in Blue Monday, we take control of our Happy.Work.Life ourselves. That’s why we have 5 happy-tips for you and your team to turn this Blue Monday into a Red Monday.

H.   Gratitude practice

When you end up in a blue slump, chances are that your daily thoughts are a bit more negative. Fortunately, this is easy to remedy with a few quick and above all, positive exercises. You can start your blue Monday with a gratitude practice, all together with your team.

1. Make a list of everything you are thankful for. Write down the little things too. Think, for example, of a warm towel from the dryer or the birds chirping in the morning when you are on your way to work.
2. Then make a list of everything that makes you happy. Again, write down the little things. For example, chocolate with tea, petting a pet or visiting a friend.
3. Finally, write down everything you have achieved or learned something from in the past period. Think of starting a course, and completing projects, but also small milestones such as cleaning up your garage or your progress in a hobby. You may sometimes feel blue because you feel like you’re not moving forward. 

Looking back at this list you see that you achieve more than you initially envisioned. We at Alert are certainly proud of you!

A.   Laughing really hard

No, this is not a joke. Laugh out loud every day. Laughter ensures that you relax and the stress hormone cortisol decreases. Do you find it difficult to laugh without provocation? Then you should try laughter yoga, several locations in the Middle East that offer laughter yoga or suggest a laughter workshop as your next team-building activity.

P.   Plan highlights

One of the reasons why people experience a Blue Monday is partly because all the fun holidays have ended. Now there is nothing big to look forward to till the next national holiday.  Therefore, schedule your highlights to look forward to. Plan a dinner with your team or organize a party.

P.   Celebrate every victory or success

How big or small your success is, celebrate it. Treat yourself to a nice coffee with cake, and go to the movies. Or write yourself a letter or card showing how proud you are of your success and put it somewhere visible. See how your card collection grows over time. You can write these cards for your team and colleagues as well.

Y.   Improve your work environment

Where you work and how you feel in your workplace also affect your happiness. At Alert, we believe in the Happy.Work.Life philosophy, meaning that we work with the philosophy: ‘People work better when they are happy’. Do you want to discover what you can do to improve the work happiness of your employees? Then make an appointment with your favourite HR business partner