How To Banish The January Blues

Urgh, January. I think that’s everyone’s reaction when January rolls around. Urgh. The Christmas joy has gone, we’re back to work, it’s cold, we’re broke…hold on, I’m meant to be cheering you up, not make you bluer! January does get a bad rep, but that doesn’t mean that we have to accept our fate of always being miserable in January. So, with that in mind, today, I am sharing ways on how to banish the January blues! Let’s have some fun!

Go For A Walk

Okay, okay. I know it’s boring, and it’s been suggested 800 million times before, but walking is incredibly good for you! Fresh, cool air, a little sunlight (yeah, like that’s going to happen in England, in January!), increasing that heart rate. All brilliant things for improving mental health and things to help banish the January Blues!

Bundle up, put on your favourite scarf and wellies and have fun! Splash in the puddles, kick the leaves and be silly. Who cares who’s watching?

Dance Like Nobody’s Watching

If you can’t possibly face going out, then have yourself a little dance party. I can hear you right now, “I’m not a 13-year-old girl”.

Fair enough.

BUT there is absolutely nothing wrong with putting on your favourite CD and having a blinking good dance or sing along! Who is going to see you? Let loose and “shake it off, shake it off.” You don’t have to tell anyone that you did it.

Pamper Yourself

Whatever pampering means to you, do it. Whether that’s getting your hair cut, having a bath, painting your nails, doing a face pack, getting your other half to give you a massage, or popping a pair of moisturising socks on and watching your favourite girly movie with snacks. Do something that makes you feel good. You deserve it.

Make plans

This can be a plan to do anything. It doesn’t have to be dinner and drinks. In fact, it’s probably best to not do that at the moment with the way COVID is ravaging our country. Maybe go for an outdoor coffee catch up, a walk, a zoom call where you all dress up and have drinks, or stay in your pj’s and drink hot chocolate on Facetime. You could also do a virtual cinema date. Disney Plus has a great feature called Group Watch, where you can invite up to six friends to watch along at the same time.

You don’t just have to make plans for January, though. Make plans for the Summer. Hell, make plans for two years. A group of my friends all turn 40 around the same time (except me, I’m the baby of the group by this 🤏much.) But we’ve already arranged a trip that we’re going on to celebrate. We’ve still got about four years to go yet. But it’s so nice to have things to look forward to.

Make A List Of Things You’re Looking Forward To This Year

So this ties into making plans. Do you have any events that you are looking forward to this year? A friend getting married, a new baby in the family, a holiday, a camping trip, working on the garden, sitting in the sun, getting that new book that comes out this year, a new tattoo, a friend returning from Uni…the list really does go on. You can put whatever you want on the list, no matter how big or small. I have eating an ice lolly in the garden on my list!

Declutter

What better time to declutter than after Christmas? We have to make way for all of the lovely treats we got! Decluttering can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t need to be! Start small. Take it one draw, one cupboard, one bag at a time. Give yourself a nice extensive timeframe in which to get everything done.

Top tip – throw away those jeans. They don’t fit. You aren’t going to wear them ever again. It’s time to let go.

Review Your New Year’s Resolutions

Oh, we have such great ideas of what we are going to do in the new year. Start running, eat better, lose weight, get organised etc. We start the year with great intentions and smash it for a few weeks, or we don’t even get started.

Well, maybe now is the right time to review your New Year’s Resolutions.

Is it really possible to lose five stone this year? Maybe scale it back a little bit, or change it to get healthy.

Are you really going to use that gym membership, or are you just throwing £££ down the toilet? If you’re a busy person, maybe a gym membership isn’t suitable for you. How about allocating some time to do a home workout or start going for walks or a little yoga practice in your lunch break.

Reviewing your resolutions isn’t quitting. You’re just giving yourself the best possible chance of actually sticking to your them.

Find Your Favourite Inspirational Quotes

I LOVE inspirational quotes. I have a post sharing my all-time favourite quotes; however, they are a personal thing. What I love, you might not like at all. So have a little Google search and find your favourites. Print them, write them out, screenshot them, whatever you want to do. Just make sure that they make you feel good and put them somewhere you can see them every day to give you that boost.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up Or Expect Too Much

It’s January. Don’t expect too much from yourself. If January were a day, it would be Monday. Monday morning at that! It can take a while to get fired up. Equally though, you don’t want to go all gung ho and burn yourself out by mid-month. Take it slow and steady but always one step at a time so that you’re still making progress.

And at least we’ve finally said goodbye to 2021!

I hope you find these ideas on how to banish the January blues helpful! What do you do to banish your January blues? Let me know in the comments!

Cover Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash