The one calendar you need for your best year yet

Get richer in February. Find love in October. Make friends in July... how science holds the answer to a successful 2019

Scientists are discovering there’s a seasonal pattern to our moods, emotions and even our cognitive powers, with peaks and troughs in different months. ‘i think we tend to underestimate how seasonal we are,’ says Dr Gilles Vandewalle, whose research found we are actually cleverer in the autumn. ‘We don’t live according to the seasons now, but it was only a few thousand years ago that we did, which isn’t long in evolutionary terms.’

Researchers have discovered ‘calendar cells’ in the brains of mammals that drive their seasonal body clock and tell them when to hibernate or breed, depending on levels of melatonin. that’s the hormone we produce depending on how much daylight there is.

One recent study even claimed the brains of older adults work so much better in the late summer and early autumn that it’s the equivalent of being four years younger.

‘could it be due to changes in what we do or eat in different seasons? could it be specific hormone and brain biochemistry changes, or levels of light or vitamin D? We don’t really know yet, but it’s intriguing,’ says study leader, Dr Andrew Lim, at the University of toronto.

JANUARY

YOU might assume we’re at our gloomiest in January, but studies have repeatedly failed to find evidence for this mythical winter sadness in the majority of the population (only in the few who suffer from seasonal Affective Disorder).

it’s actually a great month to make a fresh start: our brains are more creative and innovative in cold weather, according to a U.s. study, and we’re well rested, too.

And January really is a good time for resolutions because, as the first month of the year, it’s what psychologists call a ‘temporal landmark’, so our motivation to change is high.

GOOD TIME TO: Make only one, small, specific resolution — and stick with it, as it takes at least 28 days to form a new habit.

FEBRUARY

tRADitiOnALLY the coldest month, which makes it the perfect time to mull over thorny problems and solve tricky dilemmas.

Why? Research shows the brain is better at complex thought when it’s cold. that might be because it isn’t using up so much of its glucose supplies trying to keep cool, so has energy left over to think deeply, concluded researchers at the University of Virginia, who asked volunteers to choose between two complicated mobile phone tariffs in hot and cold environments. the ‘winter’ volunteers got the ‘right’ answer far more often. GOOD TIME TO: Do the moneysaving but brain-draining admin tasks, such as switching banks, energy suppliers and phone tariffs that you’ve been putting off for so long.

MARCH

YOU might expect to feel happier now spring is here, but the opposite is true: March truly is the most miserable month. Research consistently shows sadness and fatigue are at their highest now. (it’s also the peak month for suicides).

it could be because our levels of the ‘sunshine vitamin’ D are at their lowest after the winter, or other feelgood chemicals like serotonin and dopamine are low.

Our brainpower also takes a hit: when Dr Vandewalle’s team at the University of Liege in Belgium scanned the brains of volunteers doing complex memory tasks, their brains were least active and the scores were worst in March.

GOOD TIME TO: try Matcha tea, which contains the amino acid L-theanine, thought to activate the brain’s decision-making region, the pre-frontal cortex.

APRIL

it FeeLs like it should be an optimistic month, with the days getting longer and summer on the horizon, but once again science confounds us. According to a study of eight million tweets over four years in the UK, anxiety peaks in April — and it’s also when we’re buying the most over-the counter stress remedies.

‘One hypothesis is that spring is a time when the rate of change in the levels of sunlight is at its fastest; perhaps it’s so fast it is interfering with our circadian rhythms and causing anxiety,’ says study leader, Dr Fabon Dzogang at Bristol University.

One study of people’s Googling habits found that April 23 was the peak day for misery.

GOOD TIME TO: eat curries containing turmeric, a spice with a proven antianxiety effect.

MAY

OUR mood takes a rapid upswing. scientists think it’s probably down to the longer days and increased sunlight, which enables our body to produce vitamin D, which has an anti-depressant effect, and serotonin, the chemical associated with happiness, calmness and alertness.

An intriguing study of the Amish community in Pennsylvania, who work the land and don’t use artificial light and are therefore still attuned to the seasons, found their mood was highest in May.

GOOD TIME TO: Devote 15 minutes of your evening to appreciating the good points of the day and dwell on the positive emotions you felt, which will reinforce your good mood.

JUNE

OUR brains seem primed for paying attention this month, possibly because of high serotonin levels which make us alert yet calm. When volunteers in the Belgian study were asked to do computerised tests of their reaction times and levels of sustained concentration, they performed best around June 21. GOOD TIME TO: improve your concentration even further. choose a cup with a picture on it, then focus your entire attention on it for two minutes, constantly shifting your straying mind back to the cup. extend to five when you master two minutes. You’re training your attention by creating efficient pathways in the brain.

JULY

it’s not only the prospect of long holidays that relaxes us in the summer. studies show our levels of the stress hormone cortisol are at their lowest now, which may improve our mood. that, coupled with very high levels of serotonin, means July is definitely a good month for chilling.

GOOD TIME TO: spend time with friends and increase your social network. A study last year (OK, on mice) found that a positive social interaction caused the release of the ‘closeness’ hormone oxytocin into the brain, which boosted serotonin and made them seek out more mice ‘friends’.

AUGUST

it MAY not feel it on hot, lazy days, but your brain is approaching its annual performance peak about now. studies show that in late summer and early autumn, we’re particularly hot on tasks that require ‘higher’

thinking, like symbol-matching and code-breaking. Scientists aren’t sure why, but it could be a throwback to ancient times when your brain had to be especially sharp at harvest time.

GOOD TIME TO: Learn a new skill while your brain is at its most receptive — and the more taxing the skill, the better for your brain. Older adults who learned computer coding and digital photography had improved memories a year afterwards.

SEPTEMBER

There’S a reason we might feel energised and capable as autumn begins: research consistently shows our working memories are at their strongest around the autumn equinox on September 21. That’s why we’re at our productive peak at work in the autumn, too. GOOD TIME TO: Tackle a task you’ve been putting off for ages, or make lists for projects you want to complete by the end of the year.

OCTOBER

NOT for nothing is October known as ‘cuffing season’, the time we ‘handcuff’ ourselves to a mate. Studies show more people change their online status to ‘in a relationship’ now than at any other time of the year, and there may be biological reasons as well as the practical desire to cuddle someone on those long, dark, cold evenings. Studies show our energy winds down in winter and we naturally want to gather with others for protection and companionship. GOOD TIME TO: Try a dating app that isn’t Tinder. What about Double (you go with a friend) or Bumble, where women always make the first move?

NOVEMBER

INTuITIveLy, shouldn’t we lose more weight during the summer months when our diets are (theoretically) lighter and we’re more active?

Not according to the research, which tells us wet, cold and windy weather is the best time to be on a diet. A study from last year involving more than 3,000 people across the world showed that the wetter and windier the weather, the more weight that people lost.

yes, you burn more calories in the winter to stay warm, but the researchers were at a loss to explain the connection with rain and wind.

GOOD TIME TO: Sign up for a muddy run — you burn more calories wading through mud than running on the road.

DECEMBER

IT’S the time when our brains are least alert and least able to concentrate for long periods — probably because short days mean we’re not exposed to as much light. Levels of the stress hormone cortisol are thought to be highest in winter, too.

Perhaps we’re also guilty of taking our eye off the ball in our relationships, as December is the most common month for break-ups, according to analysis of the Facebook status of millions of people. And the two weeks before Christmas is the

most common of all. GOOD TIME TO: hug someone. hugging raises levels of the ‘love’ hormone oxytocin and may reduce your cortisol levels.