How to break the winter blues

The winter months of 2020/21 have been long and challenging for some. While winter, even at the best of times, can lead people to hibernate and become less active, this year has been particularly difficult given the long lockdown in the UK. However, the good news is that spring has sprung, and that means saying farewell to the winter blues! If you’ve found yourself in a funk these past few months, below are a few ways to break that state of mind.

Create a Spring/Summer Plan

With the winter months behind us, now is an excellent time to make plans for the longer and warmer days ahead. To help break your deep blue funk, put together a plan of activities and goals that you’d like to do or achieve in the spring and summer.

Whether it’s travel, learning something new, seeing old friends, or getting your career in order, making a plan can help you feel more focused. While lockdown has greatly hindered our ability to get out there and be active, spring is the perfect time to line up the things you haven’t been able to do.

Do Something Daring

Breaking the blues sometimes requires a shock or a reset. Why not snap yourself out of it by doing something daring? It doesn’t matter if it’s something as small as asking someone on a date or as big as going bungee jumping (restrictions permitting, of course!). The point is that you push yourself out of your comfort zone and do something that activates your nerves. This simple act can help push you out of a slump, and it will also boost your confidence.

Treat Yourself

Feeling down will dampen your motivation and spark for life. While comfort eating or binge shopping certainly isn’t the best idea, treating yourself to an occasional indulgence can be good for a small boost. If you’ve been working at home wearing nothing but jogging bottoms and loungewear, why not treat yourself to a new outfit? Alternatively, you could buy yourself a new pair of mens sneakers in anticipation of when things fully open and you can go out for a night on the town.

Break a Sweat

Most people are aware of the role of exercise when it comes to boosting your mood. Exercise releases endorphins and pumps oxygen throughout your body. If lockdown has made you sluggish, try a home workout, do a YouTube class, or get outside and go for a jog. While breaking a sweat isn’t necessarily a cure-all for the winter blues, it can trigger the process so that you feel more motivated to do more activities.

Attend to Your Emotions

When all is said and done, getting yourself out of the winter funk primarily involves some inner work. Attending to your emotions and evaluating your thought patterns can go a long way towards a more positive state. For example, if you’re regularly engaging with negativity or feeling down about yourself, try to convert those thoughts into more encouraging ones. Our thoughts dictate our emotions, so try where possible to find solutions to problems and create positive statements about yourself. After all, if you can talk yourself into a funk, you can certainly talk yourself out of one!