January: How to beat the blues

National World - LocalTV

Here is a whole host of tips and tricks on avoiding the January blues this year.

Transcript

00:00Hello to all of you lovely people and welcome to a lovely day here in Manchester in 2025. I'm Theo

00:05Heusenbeth and I'm thoroughly excited to be leading you into the first month of the new year with our

00:09first extended Feature Friday of 2025. It's January now and it can be an exciting time of new challenges

00:14and self-improvement but a lot of people struggle with something known as the January blues which

00:18comes about basically as a result of exhaustion that comes with the end of the festive period,

00:22bad weather and potentially the aftermath of excessive spending in Christmas of food and

00:27potentially nights out on the town as well. With that in mind we've done some digging to give you

00:30some tips and tricks that should allow you to vanquish the January blues and start the year

00:34off right. So let's get right into it. First one is keeping active. Staying inside and failing to

00:38move around is one of the key factors that can lead to a bad mood. The best thing you can do

00:42is simply make sure you're getting out of the house and doing some sort of cardio activity.

00:46It doesn't have to be intense but something like a 20 minute walk during your lunch break

00:49will get you some sunlight, keep your mood high and if the weather's bad consider just wearing a

00:53coat and then enjoying a bath afterwards to unwind properly. Eating well is important too and I imagine

00:58a lot of you have got some sort of new diet in your resolutions but the thing I want to hammer

01:01home is the worst thing you could do is take it too far. If you're keen to lose weight this year

01:05and change your eating habits consider slightly reducing your portion sizes and limiting sweets

01:09to a small handful every day. Don't cut everything that you enjoy out otherwise the diet will fail

01:13and you'll be in the same position as you are now. Enough said on this one, it's simply cuddling with

01:17your pets. Whenever I'm feeling down I bring my little dog Cooper who you're seeing now into the

01:21office with me and she keeps me happy. It's the best thing you can do and there's some great cafes

01:25in and around Manchester that have pets around the place too. A lot of you I imagine are doing dry

01:30January and I just want you to know that this doesn't necessarily mean the end of your social

01:33life for this month. There are tons of great independent breweries here in Manchester that

01:37do some top top top quality zero and low alcohol beers that you can either have for the whole night

01:43if you're going completely sober or just mix them in with the usual drinks. Alcohol is something

01:47that is great in terms of being a social lubricant but can obviously have a negative impact on your

01:51health. One of the big ones for me is setting social media boundaries. Social media is designed

01:56to be addictive and it really is but you don't necessarily need to uninstall them all. Many

02:00phones now have settings that allow you to limit the amount of time that you spend on each app

02:03and it's worth trying to figure that out even if you just get a notification after a certain period

02:07of time on an app it could be the reality check that you need. Now there are tons of tips remaining

02:12but the most important ones for me is positivity and planning. The chances are that some of your

02:16goals will go wrong, they'll be bumping the road and something will throw you off. Don't put too

02:21much pressure on yourself, be forgiving with yourself because if you end up going down this

02:25sort of black hole of uncertainty things will just get worse. Control what you can, make a to-do list

02:29for each day and each week maybe with achievable goals preventing you from becoming overwhelmed

02:33by all the things that you've planned and don't forget that enjoying yourself is important too

02:37so whether it's a pint on a Friday after work or treating yourself to a coffee on a Monday to get

02:41you through the day. Being able to reward yourself when you've had a good week or console yourself if

02:45it's been a tough one is really important when it comes to remaining positive. Now try and sleep

02:49well, spend time with your friends, tell yourself something nice every day and maybe try and learn

02:53a new skill. All of those things can help you keep the blues away so try the ones you fancy

02:57and we'll start 2025 as we mean to go on.

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