How does 'Blue Monday' affect one's mood?

Even if it's just little things, it seems that people are more likely to suffer from emotional fatigue, apathy, low motivation, stress and, above all, sadness on this Monday.

How did Blue Monday begin?

The origin of Blue Monday dates back to 2005, when psychologist Cliff Arnall created a formula to calculate the most depressing day of the year . Since this formula originated as the basis for the campaign of the travel agency Sky Travel, it was criticized and classified as 'pseudo-science'. Even so, Blue Monday has become known the world over.

How can I deal with the saddest day of the year?

Feeling sad is normal on any day of the year, not just on Blue Monday. What's important is to learn to manage this emotion with small actions that make you feel better, like talking to loved ones, setting easy goals or concentrating on living in the present. You can also take advantage of the Blue Monday offers that many brands launch to cheer up the saddest day of the year.

Photograph of a woman saddened to hear her alarm clock go off.

January 16

Blue Monday

The saddest day of the year.

What is Blue Monday?

Blue Monday is the saddest day of the year, according to science. It was created in 2005 by Cliff Arnall, a psychology professor who taught at the University of Cardiff's School of Psychiatry. He stated, with no hesitation, that he had come up with the mathematical formula that would help determine the saddest day of the year. And what day was that? The third Monday in January.

When is Blue Monday?

Blue Monday, as Professor Cliff Arnall's formula rightly stated, takes place on the third Monday in January. Why? Because it combines a number of negative factors:

It's the worst day of the week, since it starts off the week.
Enough time has passed since the start of the year to set aside our New Year's resolutions.
People haven't gotten their January paycheck yet.
We start feeling the pressure of all the money spent at Christmastime.
The weather is more rainy, and it's getting colder.

Why is it called Blue Monday?

Let's look at the two words in Blue Monday:

There's Monday, which is the first day of the workweek.
And then there's Blue, which is a term that is used to denote something that causes sadness or unhappiness.

So, by combining both, we get what in Spanish is known as 'Lunes Triste'.

Blue Monday deals

It's true that Blue Monday deals are not as numerous as those of other 'special days', such as Valentine's Day or 'Black Friday'. However, there are several brands, especially from the technology sector, that take advantage of this Blue Monday to offer their customers special deals through their websites in an effort to 'cheer them up on this saddest day of the year'.

If you want to finance your Blue Monday purchases, try our loan calculator

Would you like more information?

Blue Monday is the saddest day of the year because it brings together everything that can affect one's mood: the Christmas holidays are over, the cold winter lies ahead, there are Christmas bills to pay, the New Year's resolutions are already broken...

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