Beat Blue monday with fika

Monday 17 January is Blue Monday. That day must be the Monday of the year when most people feel down. The good news is that it's really just something that was once made up by a psychologist. Hard evidence has ever been found. But... with gray weather and Corona stuff, it's time to cheer yourself and someone else up anyway. Fika can help you with that. Especially now crawling out of the lockdown a bit.

You can find more of these happy things in my Happlify your life book . Fika can be found on page 88.

Fika, a beautiful new/old habit

What is it? Fika has been around for a long time and is a social custom in Sweden (and Finland) where you interrupt your work or other daily worries at least once or twice. You then drink tea or coffee with something tasty – such as a fresh cinnamon bun , preferably together with others. It happens at scheduled times and is consciously used to take breaks and maintain social contacts. By introducing fika yourself you work nicely on maintaining your wolfpack and therefore the relationship with friends and family.

👉 Here you will find a delicious cinnamon bun recipe

Nice fika facts

• At many Swedish companies, fika is a mandatory break.
• The average Swede spends no less than 268 hours or 33 working days a year on fika (when you consider that the average Dutch person looks at their mobile for 34 days , you have to wonder which is more meaningful - and more happy...).
• It is an activity that occurs in all layers of the Swedish population.
• Fika can be freely translated as 'coffee', but actually that doesn't quite cover it and there is no real translation for it in Dutch, English or any other language. Just like with our word 'cozy'.

Fika is fun, but also functional. Because such a break really gives you some rest from your work, so that you can go back to work afterwards! If you do it right, you can escape the crowds for a while. And that's not a strange idea at all, is it?! Even if you just take a walk with your thermos cup of coffee. That's more than nothing

What do you need for fika?

• a break at ±10:00 and at ±15:00,
• coffee, tea or another (non-alcoholic) drink,
• something tasty such as a cinnamon roll or other nice fresh cookie,
• a place away from work, if the weather permits it in the open air,
• someone to chat with.

What stops you? Do you have no one (live) to chat with? Call your grandmother or mother over a cup of coffee, or that one old aunt. Do you find twice a lot every day? First plan fika once a week and build it up slowly. Nothing is necessary, everything is possible with fika, as long as you relax.

This was week 28 from my lucky book

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Author - Mariko Naber
Mariko is the happy brain behind Happlify. Together with partner Mark she runs Sell ​​your stuff online, branding agency Loaded ink BNO en Atelier Naber . She loves feel good, random acts of kindness, meatballs, chocolate mousse, family time, zee, piña colada, sugar & spice and everything nice 💛