AS news is now 24 hours a day, reporters don’t get Christmas time off like many key-pushing office workers and I found myself insanely jealous of those announcing they were off for the 12 festive days until 2014.

So jealous, in fact, that I booked a week off in February just for the hell of it, and when it came around to the first weekend off of the new year, I was so excited despite having no plans.

On Saturday I had a very late lie in, took the decorations down, entertained my Dad when he brought my dog back from her new year holiday at his house and ordered a takeaway.

On Sunday I had another very late lie in, did a bit of food shopping, and then hurt my back putting it away before watching episodes of 24 on Lovefilm in a hot bath and later putting on a onesie that made me look like Thing 1 and Thing 2’s unwritten sister lying on a hot water bottle to ease the pain while completing Batman Arkham Origins and defeating Moltaan in Ni No Kuni on my PS3.

When I came back into work on Blue Monday – the most depressing day of the year – I wondered where my weekend had gone having done nothing, and when exactly I got so old that I didn’t want to party, or even socialise past having a polite conversation with the man on the till at Tesco, and instead got laid up with a bad back.

I suppose this was the equivalent of how people felt going back to the daily grind after having Christmas off – just six times and three bank holidays shorter. So, the question is this, how DO you cure the January blues?

By eating all your chocolate and drinking the leftover alcohol to get you through despite the fact you tried to make a resolution to get fitter and consequently making yourself feel guilty?

Do you go to every event planned in January in an attempt to meet new people and enjoy yourself, despite the fact you are quite content in your own company relaxing after a busy week?

Or do you just get on with whatever problems and personality defects you faced a week ago in 2013 as if only a week had passed and a reset button had not been pressed for a new 365 days.

I’m being realistic and voting for the latter.