Is it just me or does anyone else out there look forward to getting past the shortest day of the year? Do you, like me, struggle getting out of bed during November and December and feel like you do nothing but work and sleep as it’s too dark to do much else? One of my kids actually said to me on Monday when I was bringing him to school– “mum are you sure the alarm didn’t go off an hour early”? Seriously it was that dark.
In Ireland, we will soon hit our shortest day of the year. On the 22nd of December we will get a measly 7 hours, 29 minutes and 55 seconds of daylight. No wonder most of us spend Christmas consoling ourselves by tucking into mince pies, plum pudding and chocolate Santas and spend the rest of the year trying to work it back off.
Of course, in Softworks we have flexitime so while I whinge, I do get to start anytime between the hours of 8am and 10am but it’s been so dark, I’m arriving closer to 10am than 8am these days. In the spring/summer you will always see me propped at my desk by 8am so that I can head off early and make the most of my bright evenings. So if you don’t currently offer your employees flexitime, think about it, you’d be amazed at the difference it could make to their lives and mood!
But finally, some good news, from the 23nd of December it immediately starts to get a little brighter every day. Admittedly only 5 seconds on day one, but it does begin to climb quite steeply after this.
By the end of January daylight will have increased by over an hour, by February we will be up to over 10 hours of daylight and by April we will have hit a whopping 15 hours – now you’re talking!
Our longest day in 2016 will be on the 21st June and we can look forward to 17 whole hours of daylight. It will be bright getting up and bright going to bed – happy days 🙂
So roll on the 23rd December, I want to see the light again. In the meantime, I’m off to the shops to stock up on mince pies, plum pudding and chocolate Santas…
