Back in 2005, Cliff Arnall (a psychologist of subsequently slightly dubious repute) devised a maths “formula”, taking into account factors such as the weather, debt, time since Christmas, broken New Year’s resolutions and motivational factors, to pinpoint the third Monday of January as “the most depressing day of the year” in the UK. Arnall’s contentious “research” was used in a promotion by Sky Travel at the time to encourage people to cheer themselves up by booking a summer holiday bookings....and has been regurgitated in the newspapers every January since.
This year is no exception, but the one article that caught my cynical little eye was the Telegraph’s attempt to revamp an otherwise stale story, by offering tips on how to beat the Blue Monday Blues. Hidden between all the touchy-feely, “eat lots of chocolate coated blueberries and hug a bunny” ideas put forth, was one pick-me-up tip that was actually a bit of a downer.....it suggested readers cheer themselves up by “imagining the end”. While this may sound like it’s taking the “blues” to a whole new level, the motivation behind this off-beat way of thinking follows claims by Richard O’Connor, author of “Happiness: The Thinking Person’s Guide”, that “Picturing your own death is a great way to improve your state of mind...In your final moments, you are at peace and your thoughts are clear. You can get in touch with a number of regrets. Fortunately it’s not yet the end of your life. You have the time to correct some of the problems.”
This year is no exception, but the one article that caught my cynical little eye was the Telegraph’s attempt to revamp an otherwise stale story, by offering tips on how to beat the Blue Monday Blues. Hidden between all the touchy-feely, “eat lots of chocolate coated blueberries and hug a bunny” ideas put forth, was one pick-me-up tip that was actually a bit of a downer.....it suggested readers cheer themselves up by “imagining the end”. While this may sound like it’s taking the “blues” to a whole new level, the motivation behind this off-beat way of thinking follows claims by Richard O’Connor, author of “Happiness: The Thinking Person’s Guide”, that “Picturing your own death is a great way to improve your state of mind...In your final moments, you are at peace and your thoughts are clear. You can get in touch with a number of regrets. Fortunately it’s not yet the end of your life. You have the time to correct some of the problems.”
Well, that's certainly galvanised me into action....next January I won't be reading any Blue Monday articles as I don't want to be on my death bed, regretting wasting so much time reading recycled rubbish!
Savage Chickens found HERE
PS....If you're still interested in beating the Monday Blues, you can read the full Telegraph article HERE.
Yeah I heard about this mathematical formula before. Not sure what to make of it. Never thought that envisioning your death would improve your state of mind. Now I know.
ReplyDeleteyesterday totally sucked. i was imagining the end for a few people in the office (violent, bloody, glorious ends) so maybe Cliff has a point?
ReplyDeleteI'm not too keen on imagining death myself....but I suppose he does make an argument for living life so that you have no regrets in the end...
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