Everyone on TikTok hates January

If you had a severe case of the Sunday Scaries last weekend, you are not alone. It’s a sentiment many have been sharing online. 

Ready or not, with it comes an influx of unread emails, meeting invites, and responsibilities—smugly pushed to the New Year in the last weeks of December—now coming back to haunt us all. 

Indeed, the first Monday of the year is the Monday-est Monday of all. 

“Oh god,” one TikTok user posted on Monday 6th. “Everyone is circling back.” 

“Worst aesthetic ever: Back to work in the first week of jan,” another wrote, riffing on TikTok’s “rare aesthetic” trend. 

Some have used the lyrics to The Smiths’ “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” to sum up the feeling of corporate workers logging back on the first Monday of the year. 

After weeks of late nights of holiday fun, overindulgence, friends and family time and a slower pace of life, the abrupt shift back to the corporate grind can trigger feelings of anxiety in even the most enthusiastic of employees. 

“Monday 5th January isn’t for the weak,” another TikTok user wrote in the caption of a clip. “The idea of an unwanted convo at 9am on Monday 5th,” the closed captions reads, soundtracked to frantic voiceovers sputtering workplace jargon, including KPIs, decks, emails, and Salesforce. 

If this week so far you’ve felt unusually slow, unfocused, or overwhelmed, you’re likely experiencing what is commonly referred to as the “holiday hangover,” or January blues. 

These feelings are not unique to one generation or another, and tend to resurface like clockwork come January each year. As another TikTok user wrote: “The way I logged on after two weeks off only to realise i can barely remember what i was doing when I left or what im supposed to be doing now so im lowkey terrified and every email and teams alert feels like a jack-in-the-box.” 

Relatable.

While time off work over the holidays has been linked to reduced stress and overall improved health, these benefits tend to vanish relatively quickly once back to work. And research has shown when workers are expected to hit the ground running after a break, they often experience depleted energy, focus and motivation. 

Reestablishing some semblance of routine post-holidays is essential for keeping the January blues to a minimum. This means fixing sleep schedules after going to bed consistently after midnight and waking up at midday for the past few weeks. Giving up the chocolate and leftovers from the fridge diet and going back to overnight oats and desk salads. And not only having to remember what day of the week it is, but also spending the next few months mistakenly writing 2025, crossing it out, and rewriting 2026. 

The key is to keep expectations low. If you simply showed up, caught up on the post-holiday small talk with colleagues, and made it to 5 p.m.? Honestly—that’s enough for this week.