When the days feel shorter, and your energy takes a dip, it can be harder to maintain your usual simple routine.
Winter often brings everyone a change in mood, focus and motivation, which can end up affecting everything from your sleep and movement to your stress levels and daily habits.
Why Winter Can Feel So Draining
When there’s less sunlight, we’re all prone to vitamin D deficiency, which ends up draining your energy and dulling your concentrations levels.
Having reduce outdoor activity ends up making this worse. When you’re outside less, you move less, you see fewer people and you get less natural light.
The cold weather also has an affect, tensing your muscles, the dry air and feeling cold can exhaust you over time.
Link Between Self Care And Seasonal Fatigue
All of the winter pressures add up, but how you care for yourself will determine if you feel slightly sluggish or completely wiped out.
Self care doesn’t just feel nice, it also affects your nervous system, your homes and your daily energy. When you ignore your needs, your stress responses stay switched on, your sleep quality drops and the seasonal fatigue hits you harder.
Self awareness practices will help you to notice early signs of overload, like having tight shoulders, brain fog or being irritable, so you can make some changes before you crash out.
Mindfulness techniques can help you to calm any racing thoughts, whilst also reducing the mental drain which makes every task feel so much heavier.
Doing restorative activities, like gentle stretching, reading or talking to loved ones signals to your body that it is safe to downshift and actually repair.
Energy boosting foods like steady proteins, fiber and healthy fats will keep your blood sugar stable and prevent a mid-afternoon slump.
Get More Natural Light During The Day
Even on the coldest of days, getting more natural light is one of the simplest (and most affordable) ways to lift your mood, and fight the winter fatigue.
When you increase your sunlight exposure, you help to regulate your body’s internal clock, which will make it easier to wake up, stay alert and fall asleep at night.
If you can, try and plan your routine around the available light.
Adjust your workspace lighting by placing your desk near a window, and face sideways into it, so you’re not squinting, but still getting the brightness in your peripheral vision.
Protect Your Social And Emotional Wellbeing
Although the winter slows your pace, and keeps you indoors more, you still need strong and emotional habits, to help you stay grounded.
Prioritize your social connections by scheduling regular check-ins with your friends, even if they’re virtual friends.
Just going for a coffee with a friend gets you out of the house, and will lift your spirits.
If you know that you struggle during the winter months, you could always book or arrange some fun activities during those months, as something to look forward to, like a concert or trip, to try and break up winter.
You might feel like you want to just stay home and stay snuggled up, but that won’t necessarily improve your mood.
