According to research by Office Angels, 80% of office workers claim the lack of natural light during December and January leads to the ‘winter blues’ and has a direct impact on their work performance.

The survey of 1,000 office workers shows that the majority of office workers suffer from the milder symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D) during Autumn and Winter. Nearly half of those questioned (48%) say that as a result they feel sluggish and unmotivated and over three-quarters (77%) claim January is the worst month. Nearly a third (30%) reveal they work fewer hours in the winter as the shorter daylight hours are less conducive to staying late.

However 54% claim that teamwork benefits in the winter months because office workers prefer face-to-face communication rather than the usual reliance on e-mail. It seems that office workers find the human interaction helps to off-set the impact of S.A.D. What’s more 94% claim the Christmas party season encourages more communicaton between senior and junior employees.

Office Angels suggestions:

– Make sure you have as much exposure to natural light as possible –take a 10 minute walk at lunchtime

– Try to cultivate a happy, cheerful attitude – it may help to make you feel that way

– Encourage your team to meet face-to-face rather than relying on e-mail – it can make all the difference if a team member is having a bad day

– Do key tasks when you’re at your most active and alert – usually in the mornings

– Avoid afternoon sluggishness by taking regular breaks and aim to stay active – even if it means dropping something off at someone’s desk instead of leaving it in internal mail