Once more into the fray – braving Tokyo’s Monday rush hour commuter traffic on the way to Narita. Finland for the week. One Monday morning is much like another right? So why the extra feeling of pessimism?

Japan is a country with a significant number of national holidays – in a culture where respect for your colleagues means you’re unlikely to take your full vacation allowance, the government stipulated holiday’s give everyone a chance to take a few days off, guilt free. Early May includes a string of national holidays – Showa Day, Constitutional Memorial Day, Greenery Day, Children’s Day combine to make Golden Week after which there is nothing until late July. Hence the collective back to work sigh known locally as ‘go gatsu byoo’ – May disease.

Does your culture have an equivalent of ‘May disease’? In Finland November is (apparently) the toughest month – it’s cold, dark and wet and in Helsinki at least the snow doesn’t settle enough to stay firm underfoot. And a long dark winter of the soul awaits.

Thought for today – the extent to which a personal feeling of malaise are generated from the emotions of those around you? Whether newish ways of working – such as telecommuting disrupt the critical mass, and in which contexts? And in a world of time travel the extent that ‘skipping May’ becomes an acceptable norm?