I’VE never really bought the idea that January is a miserable month.

I quite like that post-Christmas come-down, when life gets a bit quieter and less expensive, and you can go out for bracing walks, getting blasted by icy winds and horizontal rain, smugly sticking to your New Year’s resolution to do more active stuff.

It’s the month of birthdays in my family, which is fun, and there’s Burns’ Night which sometimes means a ceilidh, or haggis in whisky mustard sauce at the very least.

So I’ve never really believed the whole Blue Monday hype – the suggestion that the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year – and it turns out, I’m right.

According to mental health experts, Blue Monday has turned into nothing but a PR stunt, encouraged by companies trying to sell stuff (Never!)

I’m not surprised – you should see the number of press releases I get sent this month, which boast of products or services that can cheer us up. Seriously, I’ve seen everything from multi-coloured teething gel and blue sofas to electrotherapy devices and cheap trips to Denmark…...

The original idea came from university researchers, who even came up with a mathematical equation to prove why it’s the year’s most depressing day, based on a whole raft of things like debt, rubbish weather and giving up on New Year’s resolutions.

But associations and groups like the Mental Health Foundation and Rethink Mental Illness are challenging the notion that depression can be calculated in this way, so hopefully, advertisers will listen and I’ll get fewer emails about pineapple-flavoured ‘smile’ tonics and ‘mood-enhancing’ pizzas.

There are downsides to January, don’t get me wrong – after almost three weeks off school, my children are bound to be blindsided by the usual post-break germ swapping assault that goes on, kindly bringing home an assortment of colds and fevers and bugs for us all to share.

A report this week by supplements firm Healthspan claims the ‘average’ mum will fall ill 324 times over the course of her youngster’s childhood with bugs passed on by her children.

The study of 2000 parents found that over a period of 18 years mums will suffer from 54 colds, 108 sore throats or runny noses, 36 sickness bugs and an annual bout of flu.

The survey helpfully suggests that to avoid this, mums should ‘reduce stress levels’, not let themselves get ‘over tired’ and ‘think positively’.

Brilliant, Harry Potter – do you want to wave your magic wand over in this direction to help us all achieve that?

Anyway, I’ve come up with an alternative list of ‘things you can do if you feel a bit fed up in January’ that can equally apply any month of the year.

Go outside. (Fresh air rocks). Learn a new language. (This has added brain boosting benefits too - double win!)

Watch the darts. (There is something strangely compelling about the darts.)

Phone up someone you haven’t spoken to in AGES and have a blether.

And don’t listen to anyone who tries to sell you a mood-enhancing takeaway….