Get Rid of Monday Blues Forever

Yesterday was the day known as 'Blue Monday' - the most depressing day of the year. The day when the combination of bad weather, holiday credit card bills and the long time left until pay day gets the better of us and we decide to hibernate and avoid going in to work.

According to comments in a feature in HR Magazine though, absence rates are expected to be lower this year.

One element of the work that we do with our clients is to enable staff to put in place wellness strategies that mean they're well equipped to deal with all the low points of their working year, able to manage their mental and physical state appropriately and ride out any periods that are generally recognised as being challenging.

This week we reconvened a programme with a group of Executives that we'd worked with in November and asked them what changes they'd made to their wellness in the last 2 months and what difference these changes had made to their professional and personal lives. In other words, what changes have they made that will help them perform well all year round in spite of seasonal hot spots like Blue Monday.

The top 5 changes were:

• Take more exercise
• Drink more water
• Make a plan for sleep, rest and recovery
• Eat more healthily throughout the day
• Make time for me and my family

The top 5 benefits of making these changes were:

• Increased energy
• A sense of calm
• Feeling fitter
• Feeling less irritable
• A reassuring sense of balance

Nothing earth shattering there you'll notice, it's all pretty much common sense.

The beauty of a good wellbeing programme however is that groups like this one are living with the benefits of making these changes, not just thinking about making these changes.

Good wellness helps people take the right action, quickly and effectively. Click here to read more on how some companies have already achieved great results with wellness programmes.

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Photo by somethingstartedcrazy (Flickr)