Anyone else already feeling the January blues?

[Newmeagain]

I am feeling a bit low today.

Part of it is that I have just come back from visiting family abroad and have come back to an empty house. Before Christmas I had a couple of bits of good news and also my trip to visit family to look forward to, but now everything feels a bit empty. The weather is not helping of course.

Yes, it's normal I think after all the fizz and lights. If ones busy I think it possibly pales into a blur of getting stuff done but if you have time to think, this is pretty normal.

Next good bit...seeing spring rear it's head!

Completely normal.. remember it's going to pass and the good times will come again!
Empty house is luxury to some!
As pp said, keep busy.
Can you plan another trip or family visit? I also like to have one planned if possible- something to look forward to.

Thank you for the replies.

I am going back to work today so that’s probably a good thing. Will definitely keep me busy!

Yes, Christmas is a lovely bubble which bursts 1st Jan!

You need all colours to paint a picture and unfortunately January as you point out for many of us is a gloomy hue. Keeping busy and getting something back in the diary to look forward to a must. Cosy pyjama nights with a great book 📖 my go-to escape for Janu-hell-ry too.

Not January blues but back to work ones. Struggling to get up and ready. Doesn't help that I couldn't fall asleep until gone 3am.

It's always horrid to get back to boring normality after having a nice break.

Yes, I do. This is my least favourite time of year, until the days properly lighten around March., despite both DC having birthdays in February.

I love January and the thought of things getting back to some semblance of normality! Could you start up a new hobby or sport or something to fill the time outside work?

I always get things in my diary for the weekends in January and February - meeting up with friends for breakfast, cinema trip, day out by train somewhere, lunch with my mum etc. I find it helps to have things to look forward to. It is a grim time of year.

I think it's a mix of the fact it's cold and grey and also a long month pay wise that make January so hard. Yesterday was absolutely hideous weather wise.

I like my job so have no issues going back just hate the commute to the office, last year I managed to do about 1 day a month. January looks like once a week.

I'm looking forward to the 6 nations starting at the end of January, that will be my weekends sorted for February and half of March. Then spring kicks in. I've also signed up for tennis lessons on a Saturday afternoon starting next week so hopefully that will get me through January.

Come over to one of the Dry Jan threads, you’ll feel great if you do it! And today we are sharing stories of weird AF dreams 😃

It's hard I agree. Why not put something in the diary this month that you'll really enjoy and look forward to? I feel the same as you but there can be joy in January if we look hard enough ❤️ take extra care of yourself this month .

My January blues gate-crashed New Year's Eve. I think it's because I have the chesty virus lots of people have had and I'm at a slightly low ebb but I have been hit hard with the sense of grey this January.

I bought a SAD lamp a few years ago. Doesn't do anything for me though. The key is to get out in fresh air and whatever daylight there is. Try and make some nice plans and find joy in little things. I'm preaching to myself here...

I intentionally book some events so I have things to look forward too.
When are you seeing family again? Or doing anything else?

Nope. Absolutely love being this side of Xmas. Thank fuck that's all over!

It all feels very different to 10 days ago.
My problem is, I'm always on the go and I stopped for a few days. Bad move!
Back to work is helping.
I know exactly what you mean though.

I'm going on holiday in just over a week so I'm feeling happy! It was a bit miserable when I worked all over Christmas, while most of my colleagues were off but I did enjoy the BHs and Christmas/New Year is generally pretty quiet work wise. Overall I think I prefer it that way. Nice to have some quiet time at work and still have time off to look forward to.

a Little. Not much but I'm counting down the days as I don't feel like going back to work

How is everyone doing? I’m feeling the lowest I’ve ever felt this January.

I have been really craving warmth and sunshine but no budget for a holiday soon (it’s booked for this Autumn)

Everything feels so bleak and hopeless.

💐

I feeling them really really badly, it's not helped by the fact my cat has been missing for 24 days. I try and stay hopeful as I've not had any calls to say she's dead but I think the not knowing is even harder.

So on top of the usual January blues, I have the missing cat blues too.

I felt OK until we were back to our routines today. We could stay in our Christmas bubble but now it’s officially burst and I’ve felt meh all day.. Probably just because it was the first alarm of the year, it’s freezing and there’s nothing to look forward to this month.

For me it's the getting up in the dark and going home in the dark, along with de-icing the car and getting rid of the condensation. So miserable!

Really hope your cat comes home @XxSideshowAuntSallyx 😞

@Dreamingofbeergardens Same! My body clock has gone crazy and it’s all the bloody darkness. It’s freezing. I feel like I’ve been plonked in an empty ice cream box and shoved back into a freezer with the lid on!

Humdrum.

Absolutely. Two days into back to work and the car has broken down (away from home after dark requiring the AA obviously). Meh. Luckily it's fixable and not too costly but horribly inconvenient.

Feeling it a bit since taking the decorations down yesterday. I suppose its normal now that the cosy magical Christmas period is over and instead of twinkling magic in the darkness its all bleak and austere, not a lot to look forward to in the near future, many people will be skint or with credit card bills looming, seasonal bugs and so on.

I know I am still recovering from a bad cold which I've had for the past 10 days or so and DH is not enjoying work at the moment so isn't enjoying being back on the job.

I do try to just focus on getting back into a routine at this time of year, sleeping well, eating healthy and getting some exercise without doing anything too punishing. I also like to declutter, get organised and take stock a bit before I start to implement any big plans.

I know for myself its just a transitional thing and I'll be ok by the weekend when I've got used to the change and recovered a bit more from my bug.