Top tips on how to banish those January blues

After all the festive fun and frivolity, January appears like a bolt from the blue.

There’s no doubt that January is a tough month – cold weather, shorter days and that’s without the added pressure of New Year resolutions that now feel nigh on impossible to keep.

But it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, here at Festival Place we have everything you could possibly need to lift those spirits and beat those January blues.

Eat well

Forget the promise you made to yourself, while tucking into that creamy oozy brie, that come January you would go on a diet and lose three stone – that’s not going to help with your mood. But what will is eating all the good stuff.

M&S is encouraging us to “follow the Eat Well flower” labels on its new Brain Food range, including its jar of super seeded nut butter and its intriguingly named Brain Balls.

To stave off the cold weather sometimes only a burger will do, and where better to feed those hunger pangs than Five Guys where you can create your own burger with any or all of their 15 free toppings.

Finally if you are following Veganuary, then head straight for Ask where they have loads of vegan dishes to choose from just for January, including the Viva Vegana pizza and Vegan Spicy Tomato Dough Bites – delicious!

Turn your home into a cosy sanctuary

Let’s be honest, our homes are our sanctuaries and there’s nothing better to recharge those batteries than a warm, cosy space to relax.

One of the best things about January, is taking down all the dust collecting decorations and getting back to normal. But you could go one step further by decluttering and reorganising.

At Homesense there are storage boxes of every shape, size and colour to organise everything from your sock drawer to that cupboard in the kitchen that has everything from mugs and Tupperware to balls of string and light bulbs – and don’t get us started on the spice jars!

Once everything is neat and tidy, you can cosy up on the sofa under a soft blanket from Next where they have an array of different styles to choose from. Then, just to set the right mood light your favourite Yankee Candle – the Soft Blanket one sounds apt and very appealing!

Socialise

The temptation is to hunker down in January and shut out the world and pretty much hibernate! But actually we all feel better when we spend time with friends and family.

So head to Café Giardino for a coffee and a chat, or have a drink after work at Brew Dog where you can even keep to Dry January with their amazing alcohol-free beers!

A bit of me time

January can be a time for reflection, but it can also feel like there’s pressure to do too much. The key to avoiding burnout is balance.

We recommend loading up on lots of bubbly, smelly loveliness from The Body Shop and Rituals and soak those blues away. Even better, settle into the suds with a good book like Butter – the cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, or if puzzling is more your thing, try the Official Agatha Christie Puzzle Book – both from Waterstones.