Winter Wellbeing

Less sunlight and colder weather, coupled with fears around the cost of lighting and heating our homes and workplaces, seem to be occupying many people’s thoughts at the moment.

Winter can be a dark time for some, literally as well as emotionally.

As we move into the winter months, there is the risk of disruption to our circadian rhythms (our internal body clock), which are regulated by sunlight. Serotonin (a hormone that affects your mood) and melatonin (a hormone that makes you feel sleepy) can also be disrupted by reduced exposure to sunlight.

Around 5 – 10% of British and Irish adults are affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) (ref ). It tends to affect younger people and women a bit more often.

SAD can involve low mood, irritability, feelings of despair, lethargy, difficulty concentrating, and sleeping for longer than normal. The impact varies from person to person, but can be quite significant for some.

Some of the treatments for SAD can include light therapy (where a special lamp is used to stimulate exposure to sunlight), as well as therapies used to treat depression such as talking therapies, antidepressants, or lifestyle measures such as exercise and managing stressors in one’s life.

Perhaps you’re someone who normally experiences SAD, but you want this year to be different.

Like any difficult period in our lives, we can be helped through them by resilient thoughts and resilient actions. How we think and talk about the challenge and about ourselves matters, and it’s important to take actions that restore your energy to tackle the challenges.

Actions to restore energy:

1.??????Physical Activity

Get moving! Start the day with a walk, get some fresh air on your lunch break, go for a run in the evening – whatever kind of activity you enjoy, make sure some movement is built into your schedule and it’s non-negotiable.

Don’t worry about it needing to be high-intensity, don’t worry about needing to get exactly 10,000 steps. Don’t let it become daunting. Start small and look for ways to build more movement into your day. If you currently do around 3,000 steps per day, for example, try to get to 4,000 or 5,000. Your sleep quality will also be better if you’ve been active during the day, but try to avoid exercising late at night as your body will take a while to wind back down.

2.??????Sleep hygiene

Go to bed and wake up around the same time every day and night (including weekends).

Don’t look at screens right before bed.

Remember that caffeine can take up to 10 or 12 hours to completely leave your body, so perhaps switch to decaf drinks for the afternoon.

Have a schedule to prepare yourself for sleep, such as going for a hot shower, reading, meditating. Sleep in a dark, cool, quiet room.

I personally use an eye mask which has a built-in Bluetooth speaker, and I can connect my phone to play a guided meditation to help me wind down. I didn’t think I would like to sleep with an eye mask, but I’ve noticed an improvement in my sleep quality since using it.

3.??????Social interaction

Speak to people, about the good and the bad. Spend time with your loved ones and be present while you do it, without distractions. Your full attention is a precious gift that you can give to someone, and they will respond better than if you give them less than your full attention.

Focusing your attention on others can also improve your mood because it sometimes takes your focus away from your own worries.

If you don’t have someone that you feel you can talk to when you’re really struggling, consider chatting to a counsellor or therapist. It’s important to have someone you feel you can be yourself with, where you can be honest about your challenges without fear of judgement. ?

Resilient Thoughts:

1.??????Optimism

Optimism is not simply putting on rose-tinted glasses and telling yourself everything will be fine. Optimism works well when paired with a sense of realism – looking at what objectively exists, being able to take a step back from your own emotions, and developing the belief that you can influence outcomes in your life in order to make things work out. It’s about framing setbacks and challenges as learning opportunities rather than disasters.

It is also about realising that nothing is permanent; whether you’re going through good or bad times, they do not stay the same forever. Every emotion and situation is temporary. You can choose to wait something out and see if it will get better, or you can choose to find ways to focus on what’s within your control and what you can do to improve your situation even a tiny amount.

2.??????Flexibility

If we have a hammer, we see every problem as if it is a nail. If we are rigid in our thinking and stick to what’s most familiar (which is extremely natural, by the way), then we risk missing new ways of solving our problems.

Taking steps to be more open-minded and to see others’ views or perspectives can help you deal with other people or unfamiliar situations better. Try taking something small in your daily routine – such as your route to work or what you usually eat for lunch – and do something a little bit differently. It may feel uncomfortable, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes, which will mean you’ll be better equipped to deal with more significant changes or unpredictability.

3.??????Zoom out

We can sometimes get stuck in day-to-day problems and can lose sight of the bigger picture. Try zooming out of the situation to think about what are your wider goals, and what kinds of things make your life feel meaningful and enjoyable. Try to create small action steps or achievable milestones that you can make progress with.

If you are dealing with something difficult, remind yourself that it is not completely pervasive, it does not affect every aspect of your life. It might not always feel like you have many options, but there will always be some element of choice, some aspects of your situation over which you have influence.

This list of suggestions is far from exhaustive. You may also consider how you look after your spiritual wellbeing (e.g., meditating, praying, yoga, journaling, being in nature, etc.), your creative outlets, how you set boundaries (i.e. taking breaks from work, disconnecting from phones and emails for some time), or what you are eating (for example, a varied diet with plenty of whole foods will help give you energy; meals with fibre and protein will help you feel fuller for longer).

What about the workplace?

If you’re an employer or leader, you could consider how you might like to support people who may be struggling.

One way is to have empathy; Recognise that showing support to an employee as they go through a difficult time is more likely to help them through that difficult time than if you ignore it or if you stress the importance of their productivity not dropping.

Perhaps you could offer flexible working hours to allow people to start later in the morning, or run it as an experiment to see if employees can be just as productive if they have one less hour in the working day.

Often, work expands or contracts to fit the number of hours in the day. As we have seen throughout the pandemic, people can adapt their working location or hours without it necessarily meaning there will be a drop in productivity. Many employers are rethinking the importance that was traditionally placed on being at a desk from 9 to 5 as a measurement of work performance, and instead are looking for ways to measure performance through output, not time.