Beating Blue Monday

Have you heard this? There is actually a date each year that is declared the most depressing day of the year. It is called Blue Monday.

The day is calculated using a formula developed by Dr. Cliff Arnall, formerly a researcher at Cardiff University. The equation, according to “Wikipedia”, takes into consideration, “…weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action.”

Here is the equation (from Wikipedia):

In theory it is supposed to take place on the third Monday in January every year. Or maybe on the Monday falling in the last full week in January. I don’t know – it depends on who you ask. This year, Blue Monday fell on either Monday the 18th or is due to fall on Monday the 25th. This confusion only deepens the sadness of the event because, just to be sure, you really need to be depressed for a full week.

If you do any research on Blue Monday at all, you will discover that researchers all over the place (presumably those with a lot of spare time on their hands) have analyzed the Blue Monday theory. Which is funny since Dr. Arnall came up with the idea as part of a publicity campaign by a British travel agency named Sky Travel. These researchers have come to the conclusion that the Blue Monday equation is bogus. I wonder how much grant money was used to figure that out.

Nevertheless, the concept has thrived since its creation in 2005. Dr. Arnall has been pilloried for his dubious theory, and he has been severely punished by becoming famous and most likely receiving royalty checks each year as the day becomes more widely acknowledged.

Apparently Dr. Arnall, only being human, was deeply affected by the criticism he received from his peers. So much so that he came up with a new formula (commissioned by Walls Ice Cream) to determine the happiest day of the year.

Speaking of happy, I happily missed (or will miss) Blue Monday this year by using my noggin. Being of a scientific bent, I beat the system by using math – more to the point, I decided not to make any New Year’s Resolutions.

I had found a flaw in Dr. Arnall’s theory. The “T” in the formula is the time that has passed since you quit trying to keep your resolutions. Since I had none, T equals zero, making the whole formula end up at zero.

See? Without resolutions, you have no Blue Monday.

Jeez, you don’t need a PhD to figure that one out.