Researchers found productivity will drop by 50 per cent this week as depressed staff around the country struggle to come to terms with the dark nights closing in.

A staggering 52 per cent of workers admitted they will struggle to get to grips with their work-load today.
14 per cent said last year's slump was so bad that they were spoken to by their boss about it.

Worryingly for employers, eight per cent even admitted to phoning in sick because they were so depressed at the thought of going to work amid the shorter, darker days.

The stats emerged in a study of 2,000 workers by Promotur, The Canary Island tourism board.

Yesterday Dr. Christian Jessen of Channel 4's Embarrassing Illnesses, said: ''The Winter Blues are no joke.

''They can affect your work performance by making you unable to concentrate and carry out your normal routine, your relationship by affecting your libido and your social life by making you feel irritable and anti-social.

''Feeling low as the nights draw in and the days get shorter is something many people experience, but some will struggle with lack of motivation, tiredness and depression.

''If you find the winter months tough, particularly during December and January you may suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, which causes a low mood caused by the lack of light during winter.

''It's thought to affect two million people in the UK and the best treatment is to get more light.

''If these all ring bells then you may be a sufferer and should consider ways you can get more light into your life over winter.''

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6432078/Monday-O...

And here's your excuse for tomorrow!

Researchers found that nearly half of British workers identified mid-morning on their second working day of the week as the moment when they were most under pressure.

Most workers coast through Monday getting their brain in gear and catching up with gossip from the weekend through social networking sites.

But on Tuesday reality sets in and staff spend the first part of the day going through emails they ignored on Monday before planning the week ahead.

And 11.45am is the point when everything comes to a head.

Graham Waters from health supplement Bimuno, which polled 3,000 adults, said: "Traditionally people associate Monday as the worst day of the week, but this doesn't seem to be the case – coasting through Monday means we're worse off on Tuesday – both in terms of workloads and stress levels.

"We lead such fast-paced lives that stress naturally runs side by side with this – especially when it comes to work.

"Tuesday at 11:45am seems to be the time in the day when the real workload for the week hits employees and as a result stress levels rise.

"The study also revealed Tuesday as the day when workers are most likely to work through their lunch break due to the realisation they have a busy week ahead.

"Work-related stress can lead to time off work so It's important to make sure we're all protecting ourselves to help minimise sickness and days off work."

More than 53 per cent of those polled admitted cruising through Monday and one in ten said they further delayed their tasks for the week by logging onto Facebook to view photos from their weekend antics.

And almost one in five employees will leave the office late on a Tuesday as they work after hours to salvage their week after a poor effort the day before.

Over half of Brits also said they regularly felt stressed at work with the average employee experiencing eight hours of mental or emotional strain during a typical week.

Worryingly, almost a quarter (23 per cent) of people said they felt stressed every day.

Almost a quarter blamed heavy workloads and one in five said stress was simply part and parcel of their job.

Yet over one in ten (12 per cent) admitted it was their boss which caused them tension in the office and nine per cent blamed their colleagues.

Top nutritionist and food writer Fiona Hunter said: "It's worrying that so many people are suffering from stress as it often leads to poor diet and can have a detrimental effect on your digestive system.

"Making sure you are eating the right foods, drinking enough water, and taking supplements that will help you boost immune system, will help to stop that run-down feeling when you're busy and over-worked."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5113653/Tuesday-...