Some tips for dealing with the seasonal blues

Brace yourselves people.

We’ve now entered the darkest [literally] and most boring two — three month stretch of the year, a time where motivation and inspiration can be hard to come by.

January, February and March are just dull, lets face it. Gone is the excitement and anticipation of Christmas and New Years Eve, leaving us in the dreary dark and cold with nothing really to look forward too. Fear not though, I’ve got a few pointers to keep your mental and physical health on the up-and-up until the Spring.

For starters, diet and nutrition is really important to bringing out the best in yourself. I’m not saying everyone has to go vegan or anything, but at least being conscious about what you put into your body can go a long way with fighting against seasonal depression.

As the days are shorter and shorter, cooking and grocery shopping becomes less enticing, and the convenience of take-out food for dinner tends to take over, at least for me personally. That’s why I’m limiting myself to one take-out meal per week, and trying to focus on meal prepping, cooking healthy options, and making sure I’m well fed throughout the day.

Another good way to keep yourself happy and motivated, is by putting down the remote and picking up a book. This one is especially hard for me, as I love watching streamed television as much as anyone. I’m finding though that replacing an hour of TV a day with an hour of reading is making me sleep better, while also decreasing headaches and feeling lethargic.

Again, I’m not telling everyone to sell go sell their flat screens, but it’s just something to keep in mind as a way to stimulate yourself in a positive way as opposed to sitting in front of a screen all night.

This next one is more for those who live alone, but I guess it can apply to family households as well; keep things clean and tidy. From experience, there’s nothing that can get me into a rut like a filthy home-space. Cleaning is always one of the hardest chores to keep up with for me even at the best of times, so I like to really focus on it during the winter months so it doesn’t get away from me.

Not letting dishes or dirty laundry pile up can be great for productiveness and feeling good mentally.

There’s tips may not work for you, who knows. It’s just some things that always help me through the ‘dog days of winter’ as I like to call them.

Here’s to hoping Spring arrives before we know it.