The January Blues start for me somewhere around January 2nd. Luckily, this year they did not come until January 4th because the 2nd and 3rd where on the weekend after New Year’s Day. It usually creeps in when I see the date and it is something like 1/5 or 1/6 and I think, “that date is so small, we have so much more to go in the year.” I am not particularly good at starting things or beginnings. I do not usually like first episodes of television shows. As a child, I found the first week of school every year to be exhausting. I get anxious because there is always so much to explain in the beginning that is it hard to relax and let the things unfold.
I usually start to relax in January when the date gets to be around January 12. “Now, we are getting somewhere,” I think to myself.
I must be careful though, hearing about something like the State of the Union Address or Blue Monday, which is the third Monday of January, the most depressing day of the year, according to the experts, can set back my positivity progress a little.
9 Ideas I Suggest that You Use to Get Through January:
1) Buy and drink so much flavored creamer: I know it sounds like I am joking, but flavored creamer is so crucial. I look forward to it every morning. I have been buying it at alarming rates on my trips to stores, really any store that I go into: Aldi, Target, Wawa . . .everywhere I go. I head directly for the dairy case and I must see what flavors they are holding. I am doing Noom*(see the end of this post for more information on that), but even so I would say I have at least two servings of creamer a morning.
2) Don’t Try an All-Vegetarian Diet During the Coldest Week of the Year: One January, before we had children, I had the great idea that my husband should try to make only vegetarian recipes for an entire week. We thought that this might make things interesting and introduce our palettes to new tastes. I brought home The Moosebook Cookbook and other Mollie Katzen cookbooks from my library. It turned out to be the coldest week of the year. We planned our menu and diligently cooked some elaborate vegetable recipes Sunday-Friday. By the time Friday came around, I am serious here, we discussed one of us going to stay in hotel because we were not getting along at all. It felt serious at the time, but we laugh about it now.
3) Hug a Toddler: Of course, if it is not your toddler ask their parents’ permission. Really you should ask the toddler’s permission too! Happiness is a toddler snuggle.
4) Don’t hide under a rock, but don’t listen to all the news: Occasionally, there is a crazy day, like the day of the Capitol building riots. Mostly though, they do not have something new to tell you ever hour. It might be good for you to take a little break.
5) Have a routine: Routines are what get you through the day when you do not know what else to do it yourself. I really struggle with the block of time between when Mr. Man’s school lets out at 2:30 and 4:45 when my husband gets home. If the weather is decent or at least sunny, I feel like that is a signal from the gods that we should go to the park. On Friday evenings, we have a blacklight dance party at 5pm, followed by pizza. There are times thought, when I am completely lost as to what to do so I love these built-in rules.
6) Eat Some chocolate but not all the chocolate: Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! I want to constantly eat chocolate, but I cannot because I am doing Noom, as I said before. I can eat some chocolate though and I do. I think you should eat some too.
7) Take break from social media if you can: I tend to go to extremes. I like things to be black and white because it is hard for me to gauge just how much of something is acceptable. On Tuesday, I decided that I needed a firm break from social media. It just was not giving me what I needed. My feeling was if anyone is set up to break up with Facebook and Instagram, it is me. I already have my own website and I can just tell the people who I know that they can go to my website and look at pictures if they want to see my pictures. My husband, as usual, talked me out of my extremism. He helped me to see that if I got rid of my Facebook page, I would not get to check on those who I know and love when the time is right. What I decided is that instead of totally breaking up with Facebook, I have set some ground rules for myself for 2021 that limit my usage but do not cut it from my life.
8) Clean some areas of your house but come up for air: Every January I go on a little rampage in our house where I want to give everything away. This is good because there are usually some things that need to be given away. As with everything though, I do get a little obsessed. I suggest that if you are like me, clean for a set amount of time, then come up for air. You can stop for the day and try it again when you have another chuck of time. Additionally, I have started making a list of things that I want to work on that might only take a small amount of time, then doing them when I have a little time.
9) Don’t swear off baked goods: Cookies taste just as good in January as they do in December. Make yourself some cookies this weekend if you have time. Treat yourself, even if you can only have one cookie a day. You wont’ be sorry.
These tips are just a jumping off point for January sanity. Good luck! You can do it. Also consider subscribing to this blog so you can get it sent straight to your email!
A Note About Noom: I started using Noom, a pay weight loss app, in October. Brendan and I have each lost over 20lbs each since joining. It does cost money, but if you decide to join, click here, and you can use my coupon code. It will allow you to save 20% off of your plan. Your plan is designed according to your weight loss goals so it tailored to your interests. Brendan and I both agree, that Noom has helped us do better than we have ever done on our own with weight loss. If you sign up with my coupon code, I will make a small referral fee.
