I don't know about the rest of you, but it's around this time of year - when the mornings are brighter and the evenings are lighter for longer - that I start to feel a fresh motivation for... pretty much everything!

It has long been known that the weather can affect our moods and the Winter blues (perhaps more officially known to some as Seasonal Affective Disorder) can make even the happiest of souls a little bit, well, grumpy. With our more than generous helpings of long, dull and cold days in the UK, it can be tricky to find the enthusiasm for much more than getting cosy on the sofa with a cup of tea, so the recent sprinkling of sunny, blue sky days that we've been lucky enough to experience has made all the difference (in my humble opinion).

It's amazing how a commute to the office on a beautiful Spring morning can set you up for a positive and productive day. This morning, for example, I noticed that the team here in the Octopus offices seemed to be in even brighter spirits than usual - because we are of course ALWAYS shiny happy people ;-). Could it be because they had enjoyed the lack of grey skies this morning, and had spent Sunday enjoying the Spring air after a wet and windy Saturday? Perhaps it is just that the first signs of Spring tend to make us want to brush off the cobwebs, get organised and get things done. Whatever it was, it worked!

We have been hearing more and more recently about the increase in flexible working and how the future will see us spending less time at our desks, but the fact is that the majority of professionals are still in an office environment between the working hours of 9am to 5:30pm, and more often than not, longer than that. It's far too easy to become engrossed in our work, topping up our caffeine intake rather than taking the time out to give our hard working brains a break - so it takes days like this to entice us away from our desks and outside to stretch our little legs and get some fresh air - making the afternoons pass by that little bit faster.

Maybe it's just me, and you guys aren't quite sharing my enthusiasm for the change in the seasons.... but either way - long may the sunny days, happy faces and motivated Octopedes continue! :-)

Jodie @jodslake