Blue Monday is ‘celebrated’ on the third Monday each January, with the date reckoned to be the most sad or depressing day of the year.
While the science behind Blue Monday is debatable to say the least, there’s no disputing that the middle of January is a difficult time of year for many people. Post-Christmas or
winter blues, return to work weariness, lack of daylight and freezing temperatures are enough to make anyone feel low.
Who Invented Blue Monday?
So who was behind the concept? The idea first appeared in a press release back in the early noughties, issued by a BSkyB channel called Sky Travel.
The man responsible for Blue Monday’s creation was psychologist and motivational speaker Cliff Arnall. The work and analysis he carried out became the motivation behind a Sky Travel advertising campaign to encourage holiday bookings. After all, what better way is there to counter a low winter mood than planning your next holiday!
The January date was calculated by a formula that used many factors, including motivational levels, weather, degrees of debt, and the amount of time since New Year’s resolutions were broken.
Fact or Fiction
The work has been debunked by several academics, describing it as “farcical” and failing to make mathematical sense. The shared conclusion is that there’s
no sound evidence base to Arnall’s calculation and that the research fails to accurately prove that Blue Monday is more depressing than any other day.
In marketing terms, however, it could be regarded as a success because the notion of ‘Blue Monday’ has stuck in the minds of many people and is now billed as an annual calendar event.
Beat the Winter Blues
There’s no doubt that many holidays are booked in the weeks between Christmas and the end of January. Once the seasonal celebrations have finished, going back to work can feel a real slog, with those dark early morning starts and miserable January weather.
January is typically when workers start to organise their annual holiday entitlement for the coming year. In 2023, WorkSmarter holiday bookings went through the roof with more than 28,000 holidays requested within that single month - 90% of which were approved, helping to boost team morale.
Stress Free Holiday Planning
Dealing with the complexities of annual leave can be a pressure on managers, adding to their busy workload. Holidays shouldn’t be a hassle but, without the right tools for the job, it’s all too easy for overstretched team leaders to get bogged down in seemingly never-ending admin and paperwork.
WorkSmarter’s easy-to-use platform makes Holiday Management effortless for managers and employees alike enabling everyone to embrace a stress-free way to plan precious leave across your organisation.
An intuitive system centralises and streamlines your processes, saving managers time, energy and hassle while providing full visibility to staff.
Friendly Team on Hand
A flexible and shared Holiday Planner lets you organise everything around your own business, adjust to all the different ways you operate holiday and staff leave policies, and allow the whole team full transparency. Our friendly advisers are on hand if you need help with any advice, adjustments or changes.
With innovative software that adapts to suit your way of working, you can track holiday by days or hours, roll over unused time including from one leave year to the next, or grant Time Off In Lieu.
Never mind Blue Monday because stress-free holiday planning starts here 😎
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