This way you feel like yourself again during the dark days.
Many people experience a winter blues due to the short cold days and the fact that we have less sunlight for a shorter period of time. Such a dip can affect your productivity and energy, so we have listed a few tips for you to combat a winter blues.
1. Provide sufficient exercise and breaks
Especially in the times we live in now, it can be difficult to get enough exercise every day. However, this is very important for your health, both physically and mentally. Especially if you sit all day (behind a desk or at the kitchen table), it is important to take regular short breaks. By walking a few times a day, you ensure that you get the recommended thirty minutes of exercise per day. Can’t get that during the day? Then take a walk around the neighborhood in the evening. This will improve your digestion and ensure you exercise sufficiently: win-win!
2. Create a solid sleep schedule for yourself
During your sleep your brain relaxes and stress is dispelled. If you don’t sleep enough, it is not good for you, both physically and mentally. It can cause you more stress and anxiety, negatively affect your mood and make you less focused during the day. In short: it gives you a serious winter blues. What can you do to ensure a good night’s sleep? First of all, it is important that you go to sleep and wake up at approximately the same time every day. Also make sure that you only associate your bed with sleeping: don’t work there with your laptop or watch intense action films.
Another important tip is to avoid alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes and overeating before going to sleep. It is also not a good idea to exercise just before going to sleep, because you produce chemicals that keep you awake. Finally, make sure that your head is clear when you go to bed, so that you are not awake with all kinds of thoughts or things that you still have to do. What helps is to put a notebook on your bedside table and write down all your thoughts in it.
3. Drink enough water
Not only sleep and exercise influence your ability to concentrate, water also plays an important role. People who drink too little water become sleepy more quickly and have less focus. They are also less able to deal with stress. By drinking several glasses of water every day, you prevent stress and sleep from taking over. You will then be as productive as possible during the day.
4. Use Olenski’s two-minute rule
A winter blue also includes the feeling that you can’t get anything done and that everything is not progressing. Fortunately, Olenski has come up with a solution: the two-minute rule. This rule means that you do tasks that take less than two minutes straight away. This is seen as a more effective method than making to-do lists. It gives you the feeling that you have achieved a lot in a short time, it saves you time and it gives you a lot less stress.
Source: Things for Women | Image: Adobe Stock
