Blue Monday is an important part of the workplace wellbeing calendar – albeit, a very unfortunate one.
Blue Monday 2025 takes place on Monday 20th January. To help you beat back the blues and keep your workplace content, we’ve put together an explainer on Blue Monday, along with tips on how you can keep your colleagues’ morale topped up this January, and beyond.
We’ve also included some information on how managers and leaders are crucial to the mental wellbeing of your workforce, so be sure to stick around!
Table of Contents
What is Blue Monday 2025?
Simply put, Blue Monday is cited as ‘the most depressing day of the year’.
The campaign was originally developed by a UK travel company, using a formula that factored in things like weather, debt, and even time since Christmas.
The legitimacy of formula is often called into question, with many dismissing the idea of Blue Monday as pseudoscience.
Taking the science out of it for a moment – bear with us – the intent behind the formula does have merit. There are many factors that could affect mental health and morale in January, including:
- The weather is miserable.
- There is little sunlight – leading to symptoms of SAD.
- Debt levels are often at their highest.
- Christmas cheer is a long way off again.
- People may struggle to maintain resolutions.
Any way you look at it, it’s very unlikely that people will name January as their favourite time of year.
So, we know why January can feel so unpleasant. But how can we tackle low morale and unhappiness in the workplace for Blue Monday 2025?
How to Boost Morale at Work on Blue Monday 2025
Tackling low morale in the workplace can be tricky. You may need to look at factors that you can control, such as workloads, working environments, and management. Additionally, there will be factors that are outside of your organisation’s control, like those mentioned in the Blue Monday list above.
Here, we’ve put together a list of ideas to help you tackle low morale in the workplace for Blue Monday 2025. These are just ideas to get you started. If you need more ideas, you can always ask your staff what would help them.
Or, if you just want a bigger list of ideas, check out our 52 Ideas for Workplace Wellbeing blog post!
Gratitude Board
A gratitude board is an incredibly simple but effective approach to boosting morale. Set up a whiteboard or flipchart in your workspace where colleagues can leave positive notes and compliments for one another. This will help promote a sense of camraderie, as well as boosting teamwork and relationships.
No whiteboard? No problem! All you need is a bit of wall space, some sticky notes, and a pen. Easy!
Health & Wellbeing Roadshow
We’re a little biased here, but a Health & Wellbeing Roadshow is an excellent way to create an exciting and engaging atmosphere on Blue Monday 2025.
If you’re not familiar with the concept, a Wellbeing Roadshow is a collection of health promotion initiatives all combined into one exciting and engaging day. Think of it like a benefits fair, but way more interactive.
Colleagues could engage in activities such as:
- Blood pressure testing.
- Health checks.
- Cholesterol and blood glucose screening.
- Cancer awareness.
- Massage appointments.
- Lifestyle coaching and goal-setting.
- Sleep hygiene awareness.
- Alcohol and nutrition education.
- Physical activity awareness.
- Stress and resilience training.
- And much more.
The idea is to create a huge buzz in the workplace, allowing everyone to get involved and feel engaged. Check out this video we produced at a roadshow one of our clients recently held.
Organise a Fun Event
If morale is low, productivity will likely be low too. So why not take some time out of the day to organise a fun little activity to help boost morale (and hopefully productivity)?
You can approach this in numerous ways, but so of the easiest (and most effective) include:
- Trivia quiz.
- Bingo.
- Guest speakers (external, or just a colleague chatting about something fun).
- A winter walk.
Ask your staff what they’d like to do, or you can even see if they have any ideas themselves that they’d like to run.
Workplace Wellbeing RoadshowsExcite and engage the whole workplace with health and wellbeing activities this Blue Monday. |
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Workplace Wellbeing RoadshowsExcite and engage the whole workplace with health and wellbeing activities this Blue Monday. |
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Offer Wellness Breaks
Given that mental health is a big focus for Blue Monday, offering short wellness breaks can be a great way to engage with the campaign, whilst also tackling low morale and poor mental health.
Offer colleagues the chance to engage in activities like guided meditation, mindful breathing techniques, desk yoga, or even a mindful walk.
The best part of this approach is that it works for remote and hybrid colleagues, too, with many of these activities being possible over a video meeting.
Organise a Workplace Massage Day
Who would say no to a massage? Aside from feeling great, massages can help improve blood flow, and lead to feelings of calmness, reduced stress, and improved resilience.
We’ve actually tested this one for ourselves. I know what you’re thinking – we do all the hard work so you don’t have to! But in all seriousness, it was a great opportunity to get a feel for our Workplace Massage Service, and experience the benefits for ourselves. So when we say it’s a great service, we mean it!
It’s also an over-the-clothes massage, so no special prep or undressing required!
Brighten up the Workspace
There’s nothing worse than walking into a dark, sterile, and boring workplace after stepping out of a wet, chilly and gloomy winter morning.
So why not take the opportunity to brighten up your workplace for the winter months? You could consider:
- Adding extra lighting.
- Replacing white bulbs with warmer hues.
- Replacing curtains or blinds to let in more natural light.
- Adding plants and greenery to the workplace (even artificial ones).
- Fresh and vibrant paint or decorations.
The goal is to help colleagues look forward to coming to work. They’ll never prefer it over being in their homes, but you can still make the environment as comfortable and welcoming as possible.
Provide Mental Health Resources
You won’t be able to offer something for Blue Monday 2025 that engages all colleagues equally. Given that hybrid working is more popular than ever, workplace-based initiatives simply won’t be accessible to everyone all the time.
What you can do, though, is offer resources for your colleagues to use as and when they need them. Here at New Leaf Health, we offer a range of completely free resources for both individuals and for workplace wellbeing leaders. These resources cover a range of different topics, so there’s bound to be something for everyone.
Additionally, Mental Health UK also offers resources for exploring mental health, as well as talking to others about it.
Keep Employees Happy All Year Round
As the old saying goes, an employee is for life, not just for Blue Monday (that’s how it goes, right?)
It’s important to remember that, whilst Blue Monday is generally recognised as the most depressing day of the year, it’s not scientific fact, and everybody is different.
In other words, you need to prioritise supporting your colleagues year-round. By all means introduce some of these initiatives for Blue Monday 2025, but then consider how you can sustain them throughout the rest of the year – and beyond.
If you’d like more advice on sustaining wellbeing throughout the year, feel free to reach out to us. You can call our team on 01384 877 855, or you can email enquiries@newleafhealth.co.uk.
Blue Monday 2025 FAQs
Here are some of the most common questions around Blue Monday 2025, along with the answers.
When is Blue Monday 2025?
Blue Monday 2025 takes place on Monday 20th January 2025. Historically, the day is observed on the third Monday of the year.
What is the Origin of Blue Monday?
Blue Monday was originally published in a press release by UK travel company Sky Travel, with the concept developed by psychologist Cliff Arnall back in 2004. The idea was, believe it or not, to help the company sell holidays.
The first Blue Monday was held on 24th January 2005.
What is the Formula for Blue Monday?
The formula used in the original press release is as follows:
[W + (D – d)] x TQ
M x Na
where W = weather, D = debt, d = monthly salary, T = time since Christmas, Q = time since the failure of new year’s resolutions, M = low motivational levels, and Na = the feeling of a need to take action.
It’s generally not considered to be mathematically sound, as units of measurement are not defined.
Weather, for example, is reduced to a single number (W), without any explanation as to what this could be – the number of days with rain? The number of clouds in the sky at 3pm on the 5th of January? The amount of people wearing sunglasses on the number 12 bus?
It also only applies to the northern hemisphere, given that the southern hemisphere enjoys their summertime during January.
In other words, Blue Monday doesn’t really exist, but it’s still a great reminder to look after our mental health.
Is there an Alternative to Blue Monday?
Yes, there’s a great alternative to Blue Monday – it’s called Brew Monday. This campaign is held on the same day as Blue Monday each year, and encourages people to check in with each other over a hot drink.
The campaign was developed by the UK charity Samaritans, who also have lots of resources available on their website.
Walls Ice Cream also commissioned another press release the same year that declared the 24th June to be the happiest day of the year. Again, there is no validity to this claim.
How can I Help My Employees on Blue Monday?
The best way to support your employees for Blue Monday 2025 is actually to support them all year round!
You can use the tips and ideas we’ve discussed in this article to help boost mood around January time, but bear in mind that everyone isn’t suddenly happy again the day after Blue Monday.
Low morale, low mood, and depression can strike year-round. Some factors, like working environment and type of work, may be in your control, but many other factors won’t be.
Ensure that your wellbeing strategy has the right mental health support in place for your colleagues. Need some advice on developing your strategy? We’re here to help.
You can call our team on 01384 877 855, or you can email enquiries@newleafhealth.co.uk.
