Around this time of year I starting to get a little blue: the days are still long and there are more clouds in the sky than sunshine. It’s freezing. It’s windy. It’s slushy. I can easily climb into bed when I get home, or eat until it’s time to go to bed. A bad weekend weather report can send me into a planning frenzy, listing all the binge watching I want to do, what snacks I will need and what sweats I will wear for the duration. I get mad because I have to go outside to walk my dog and I put it off until he is crossing his legs.

If I let it, winter can claim me as a casualty. So I have to fight back. I have to fight the urge to “hunker down.” Here are some of the tricks I play on myself. Maybe they will help you get through the season better.

  1. Dress warmly. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it helps. When I’m cold, all I want to do is go home and get under three blankets. And, if I am not wearing clothes that keep me comfortable throughout the day, I am miserable. However, when I dress warmly, maybe even to the point of being too warm at some points during the day, I am not likely to want to race home for warmth. I don’t need to be stationary in front of the fireplace. This sounds like the silliest thing you have ever heard, but I swear, it works. I am much more mobile and “life-like” when I am plenty warm. Try it. It makes a difference.
  2. Exercise: Whether it’s indoors or outdoors, it warms you up. You feel good about yourself. It elevates your mood (at least that’s what they say). Nothing more to say about that.
  3. Make plans for a few evenings each week. The earlier I head home each day, the more likely I am to become a couch potato at night. And, there is no way that once I am home in the winter I am heading back out. Even if I am at home most of the day in the winter, I find that if I make plans a few evenings a week my cabin fever is much less severe than those times when I just come home and lock the door behind me.
  4. Go Outside. What? Go outside? I know it sounds insane, but I learned this from walking the dog. I live in an urban area so just letting the dog out isn’t an option. I have to take him for a walk. But, if I really bundle up and hit the sidewalk, I find that the temperature isn’t nearly as bad as it seems in my head. Of course, there are those days when I ask him to just hold it until tomorrow (that works so well). But, the staying in gives the conditions power. Sounds crazy but it’s true. No dog? Take a walk around the block. The fresh air kind of perks you up, or maybe it is just making you run home! Either way it gets you moving. Try it.
  5. Have a dinner party. You don’t even have to go outside! Cook a hearty meal and invite friends. You’ll laugh. You’ll socialize. You’ll have fun, and fun beats the winter blahs.

So fight the winter doldrums any way you can, and let me know what works for you, other than pie!