It’s not just you.
For some personalities, the month of January feels the “longest.” Why is this so?
Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach was among the latest to express her sentiment over the perceived longevity of the month.
“January pa din…. tapos January pa din bukas. Ang haba ng month na ‘to. Haha!” she tweeted on January 30. Her post garnered 19,100 likes and over 4,900 retweets so far.
Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Top 16 finalist Ayn Bernos also implied she cannot wait for the first month of the year to end.
“I told myself no checking out online until 2.2, nakakaloka ang haba ng January, ANUNA,” she tweeted on January 29.
2.2 refers to the February 2 shopping sale on e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada, where consumers can score big discounts, free shipping, brand deals and other promos.
“Sa tagal matapos ng January, parang buong 2023 na siya,” DJ Chacha wrote on January 29.
Meanwhile, TV host Bianca Gonzalez simply tweeted: “January 47, 2023” with a raised arm emoji. The tweet earned 30,900 likes so far.
“Tagal matapos ng January, sh***,” GNN’s “Millenial TV” host M.A. Buendia also wrote on January 23.
“Parang isang buong taon ang tagal [nitong] January. Ang dami ng nangyari pero ‘di pa rin tapos ang buwan na ‘to,” content creator and pharmacist Arshie Larga similarly tweeted on January 26.
“Isang paalala na January pa rin ngayon… At January pa rin bukas. Hahahaha ‘yung January 29, parang January 99 na eh,” former ABS-CBN data analytics head Edson Guido wrote on January 29.
“Kinasal at magiging tatay na si Joongki pero January pa rin hahahaha,” he added in another tweet, referring to South Korean actor Song Joong-ki’s marriage to British actress Katy Louise Saunders and her pregnancy.
It was just last month when the “Vincenzo” actor was confirmed to be dating the actress.
READ: ‘Mixed emotions’: How Pinoys reacted to Song Joong Ki’s new relationship
GMA Network’s noontime variety show “Eat Bulaga” also echoed Pinoys’ sentiments about January by sharing a picture of one of its hosts, Maine Mendoza, looking dazed and confused on Facebook.
“Bakit kaya feeling natin ang haba ng January, Dabarkads?” its caption reads with a thinking face emoji.
What experts say
January has 31 days, among the longest in the calendar. Other months with these numbers of days are March, May, July, August, October and December.
Psychologist Riyan Portuguez of “Your Millenial Psychologist” explained that when the brain receives lots of information, it takes a longer period to process it.
“Kaya mas matagal din ang pag-perceive natin or pagtanggap natin ng oras,” she said in a video posted on January 30.
“Kapag walang bagong information tayong natatanggap, mas mabilis mag-proseso ‘yung brain kasi very familiar na sa kanya ito,” Portuguez added.
She said that it has to do with processing new information in January, when people set up goals for themselves as part of their New Year’s resolutions.
“Mapapansin natin na sa January, marami sa atin ang nag-set ng goals. Madaming ganap. Dahil sa madaming ganap, maraming information tayong natatanggap. Karaniwan sa mga information na meron tayo sa January ay mga panibagong information,” the psychologist shared.
“Dahil bago ‘yung mga information na ‘to at maraming experience ito, mas matagal siyang maproseso ng brain, mas humahaba ‘yung oras,” she added.
“Kapag bago ‘yung information na ‘to sa’yo, as in first time mo siyang e-explore, mas nagta-take ka ng time at nagpa-pay attention ka sa mga ginagawa mo na ‘yun kasi fina-familiarize pa ng brain mo kung paano iproseso ito. Hence, it takes time at nagiging slower ‘yung pagka—siyempre, pag-process nito, mas hababa ‘yung time,” Portuguez said.
Zhenguang Cai, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong whose research interests include time perception, said that January could feel long because it succeeds the most frenzied month of the previous year.
“It is possible that re-starting work after the Christmas break leads to a lot of boredom (compared to fun during Christmas break), which in turn [leads] to the impression that time slows down in January,” he shared with The New Statesman.
The report further said that people are “highly aware of the time” in January since “unlike the later months, we don’t really have anything to look forward to: there are no bank holidays and the summer is months away.”
“In fact, our collective acknowledgment that January is long, has actually made it feel longer, because we are more aware of the time. How we perceive time, at least long stretches of it, reflects how we feel,” it added.
