Today is Blue Monday

This day is the most Monday of all Mondays. Are you not feeling great today? Is everything going wrong and were you already in tears before noon? That's completely okay; today is Blue Monday and it is universally considered the most depressing day of the year. So today is just a matter of survival, but hey, then we are done with it for a whole year.

What exactly is Blue Monday and where does it come from? The term was coined in 2005 by British psychologist Cliff Arnall, who conducted research into the most unhappy day of the year. It is every year on the third Monday of January; most people feel down, sad, unmotivated, and/or nostalgic then.

Fun fact: he really did research on this and there is even a formula for it: 1/8 W + (S-s) 3/8 x TQ MxNA. The W in this formula stands for the weather, the S for debt, and the s for salary. The outcome of that formula is in simple terms Pure Misery, because today we are collectively feeling down.

And the cause of this? Arnall reasoned that the number of days since the last paid salary, the number of days until the next holiday, the average temperature, and the average number of sunshine hours per day ensure that this Monday goes down in history as the Most Sour Day of the Year.

So if you find yourself drowning in self-pity today: it’s completely okay. Be extra kind to yourself. Book that massage. Order Uber Eats. Work from home. Keep your sweatpants on or go exercise and get out. Do what feels good for you – today we can be a little kinder to ourselves.