14 ways to beat the winter blues

During the cold season, the winter blues often haunts us; it makes us feel down and sluggish. The sun is rare, it is cold, rainy or stormy and outside activities become almost impossible. If you feel like staying in bed all day, safe under the covers, hiding away from the outside world, no positivity to be found, then this post is for you. You have a choice to not let the winter blues win! Here are 14 ways to beat the winter blues!

1. Embrace the winter

Try to stop blaming and hating the winter, because that will only make the winter blues worse. Instead, think of the nice sides to it. It’s the season of Christmas, of family, love, cozy evenings, hot dishes, cinnamon, candles, … Instead of missing summer, adjust your lifestyle to the cold season.

Try the Danish Hygge-lifestyle.

“Hygge”

A quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture)

-Oxford Dictionary

Following the Hygge-lifestyle is basically making winter attractive so you can look forward to it. For example, wrap up in your favorite cozy sweater, roll in thick, warm blankets, drink tea, light some candles, read a good book…

In addition to this, the existence of winter makes the summer more enjoyable. You would not appreciate the sun as much if it was there all the time, would you?

2. Meditate

Meditation always helps to get your mood up, because the reason for a bad mood is the thoughts in your head, and that’s where meditation works: you clear your mind. It does not even have to be long; try 5 minutes a day, right after waking up, to have a good start into your day! I assure you, those 5 minutes work wonders! Don’t think of it as lost time, think of it as a time-out of the stress of everyday life.

3. Socialize

Meet up with friends or family. Invite them to your home and play board games, chat, watch movies, cook, … anything fun you can think of! Socializing not only distracts you, but shows you opinions and stories of other people. It helps you open up again instead of vanishing into your own problems and be eaten alive by your winter blues.

4. Eat a healthy diet

Our eating habits play a huge role in how we are feeling. Make sure you get the right amount of vitamins by eating lots of veggies and fruit. Invest time in your healthy and balanced diet, make time for cooking and eating without distraction.

5. Exercise

Yes, it sounds awful, especially because the lack of motivation for movement is probably one of the problems you’re dealing with right now.

However, there are ways to still do it. For example, tell yourself you’re doing only 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes are already an achievement, and once you’ve started, it’s easier to continue. Another option is taking a short walk outside and get some oxygen back into your brain.

6. Listen to music

Music can work as a real mood booster. Choose your favorite music to listen to, or a calm-down-playlist. Don’t leave yourself in silence for the entire day. Sing, dance, savor. Music is a gift.

7. Spend some time in the kitchen

Suffering from winter blues, you may be craving sweets. Knowing that sugar is unhealthy and will get you down even more, think about or look for healthy alternatives for your favorite cookies. There is a vast number of sugar-free recipes on the internet! It not only helps ease your remorse, but it also is fun baking them!

Same thing counts for cooking; take the opportunity to spend more time in the kitchen to cook a stew that must simmer for some hours, filling your home with a great smell. Try some new winter recipes, or even create some yourself! A kitchen is a creative place that you can use even more in winter!

8. Stop snoozing

I’m experiencing it myself: the trap of the snooze button. I know it is freaking hard to follow through with not making use of it. Actually, once I decide not to keep on snoozing, I shut the timer off and sleep even longer because nobody keeps waking me up. But I am going to try harder because it surely is more beneficial to start the day earlier without a feeling of remorse.

Think of what will be awesome that day. Maybe give yourself a reward for getting up on time. Whatever it is, make sure you stop pressing that cursed button.

9. Accomplish small tasks

Write down a small task for every day that you can easily achieve. Like this, you have a goal to accomplish and feel the achievement afterwards. It will help you get things done no matter how tired or demotivated you are. This task can be as small as emptying the trash! With writing it down and then being able to tick it off is an achievement. It is that simple!

10. Journal

Write down how you are feeling, what you are thinking. Writing down always helps to order your thoughts and to get focused and clear. Stay open to what writing it down will teach you about why you are feeling the way you do. Maybe you will even realize how you can change it. Believe me, reading what you are thinking gives you a different perspective on it. Also, when you reread it sometime in the future, you will know how you changed it and can reuse your strategies to beat the winter blues in the future.

11. Clean your home

Cleaning up not only gives you a sense of achievement, but it also helps you clear your mind. Getting rid of your mess increases your focus and makes room for the new. So get up, write that task down, do it and tick it, and you are one step further to finally beat the winter blues.

Read more about the benefits of decluttering here.

12. Be mindful and enjoy the little things

In winter, it is more important than ever to enjoy the little things and to be present in the moment. Savor the smell of coffee or tea in the morning, enjoy every single bite of your food, take deep breaths, savor the smile of a friend, … be present in the now. Not in your mind.

13. Stay healthy

Take care of your health, because being sick does not make the task of being positive any easier. As the cold season is known for making us sick, it is more important to take care of ourselves and our health. So make sure you get enough vitamin C (for example through clementines or lemon), always have your ginger stock assured, mind the warm clothes, the scarf, the gloves, take a hot bath after being in the cold… Also, allow yourself some treatment for our body, for example body lotions, hair lotion etc…

14. Don’t beat yourself up

The most important thing to remember is that you should not beat yourself up for feeling like shit. The winter blues is a thing. Even proved! Of course, you should not use it as an excuse for feeling down without doing anything to change it, but don’t blame yourself for feeling the way you do either. 

Don’t be mad at yourself if your attempts fail. Don’t blame yourself for snoozing, nor for not moving. Guess what? Blaming yourself will only make it worse. Instead, chose to become better every single day and give it your best.

Find out more about how to stop beating yourself up.

I hope these tips help you to beat the winter blues and embrace the season. They are not all easy, but surely beneficial! If you want to have another read on how to feel better, I recommend you read my post on 20 ways to increase your happiness. You will find that some tips are similar, but that’s because it is all about being happy all year, isn’t it?

What are you doing to beat the winter blues? I’d love to hear more inspiration! Feel free to write a comment or share!

Love,