So the festivities are over for another year, and you are back to work with a bump.

Your in-tray is piled high with the tasks that have been sneakily building up while you were otherwise engaged spending money you haven't got.

Your 'fat clothes' have been hauled out of the wardrobe again as you start to gather strength for shedding the weight all that chocolate and booze has left hanging on your poor old bones.

And to cap it all, the Christmas decorations have still to be taken down.

January's return-to-work week is said to be the most miserable time of the year, and yesterday - the first day back at work - has officially been branded the worst day of the year.

You may want to murder the next person who wishes you a happy 2006 - but stay your hand! There really is a lot to look forward to as you anticipate the year to come.

Reasons to be cheerful - 2006

1. It's less than 11 weeks until Spring

2. Fingers crossed, there's still no sign of this being the Worst Winter Since Records Began

3. Tony Blair must surely stand down before 2006 is out, so the times you'll have to watch him grinning, mug in hand, as he bleats about his workload are well and truly numbered

4. This means you'll also see less of Cherie grinning, freebies in hand, as she bleats about intrusion into her private life

5. It won't be long before people are sick of seeing David Cameron's moon-faced countenance, and the Tories start sliding down the opinion polls once more

6. H & M will open its doors in York at last - and this should make the rest of the chains sharpen up their ideas about stocking decent clothes in our city

7.The new series of Shameless started last night, and if the Gallaghers live up to our expectations, there'll be no new leaves turned over in that particular family

8. Mainly for men: It's Soccer World Cup year, and after beating the world's best at rugby and bringing home the Ashes, how can England fail to win? (Don't answer that..)

9. Mainly for women: Holiday firms are poised to launch a price war, and if you book now you can be out of the country when football madness descends

10. It turns out your best-beloveds don't like that James Blunt CD you reluctantly bought them for Christmas after they refused to stop screeching 'You're Beautiful' around the house throughout November

11. A nice couple from Dorset have got the beach hut they always wanted after camping out for four nights to be first in the queue for a sought-after lifetime lease. And then they said their success was 'like winning the Lottery'. Hurray for a sense of proportion!

12. Chinese pandas are finally getting the hang of things. They're having a baby boom, with a record 21 cubs being born in breeding centres and zoos over the last year

13. Wetherspoons will ban smoking in all their pubs from May this year. Let's hope everyone else follows suit, so that non-smokers can breathe easy and struggling ex-smokers like myself can start socialising in safety once more.

How's that then? Thirteen reasons to be cheerful. Yes, I know it's an unlucky number, but how can you feel superstitious with such a happy new year in store?

Updated: 08:41 Wednesday, January 04, 2006