Overcome winter fatigue: How to stay productive on grey days
We all know it: In the cold winter months, nothing seems to work after 5 pm. Concentration wanes, and the desire to finally snuggle up on the cosy sofa increases. The fact that the winter months are particularly stressful and full of appointments in many professions doesn’t exactly help. Winter fatigue quickly leads to excessive demands, which can even lead to severe winter depression in people who are predisposed to it. To prevent all this from happening in the first place and keep your December just as active and cheerful as your July, we’d like to give you some tips and the perfect daily routine to combat winter fatigue.
27 December 2023 • 5 min reading time
Are you constantly tired in winter? With our advice, you can successfully combat winter fatigue.
The days are getting shorter, it’s cold and dark outside and the best thing to do is simply succumb to the winter fatigue – snuggled up on the couch. On days off, there’s certainly nothing to stop you from enjoying a relaxing day on the sofa in comfy loungewear while sipping cocoa and watching your favourite series. But everyday life still has to go on in winter. Find out how you can cope better with such a day and prevent winter fatigue from setting in!
It all starts in the morning. The alarm clock rings a 7 am, and while in summer you would wake up with the first rays of sunshine, at this time of day it’s pitch dark from October onwards – not exactly a motivator to leave your cosy bed. As the sleep hormone melatonin is heavily dependent on the supply of light, the body is signalled: “Go back to sleep!”
Daylight alarm clocks work wonders to prevent this from happening. Instead of rudely rousing you from your sleep, they simulate the morning sunrise. They get brighter and brighter until the set wake-up time to light up your room as bright as day at the end. We promise you: Getting up will be much easier this way!
You should air your bedroom immediately after getting up. You can stand by the open window for a few minutes and breathe in the cold, fresh morning air. To counteract winter fatigue even more effectively, a contrast shower is also recommended. The alternating warm and cold water stimulates the cardiovascular system and really wakes you up.
If you’re not that tough, you can also simply wash your face and wrists with ice-cold water. If, on the other hand, you don’t know any pain when it comes to cold and want to wake up properly, try an ice bath. Even a rain barrel in the garden is suitable for this. But be careful: In order to acclimatise your body to the temperatures, you should approach this technique slowly and with prior research.
After a shower and a balanced breakfast, the sun has already risen? Good, because now we recommend a short walk to get you moving and prevent a possible midday slump. In general, you should spend as much time as possible in the fresh air during the day to make the most of the few hours of light. Because as you know, in winter, it gets dark in the afternoon faster than you can see.
Even if Christmas biscuits, marzipan balls, cocoa and other treats are very tempting in the cold season, you should also focus on easily digestible and vitamin-rich food in winter. After all, high-calorie snacks quickly make you sluggish and only increase the winter fatigue.
If you want to eat seasonal foods in winter, you can choose from a huge selection of delicious stews, casseroles and soups with nutrient-rich winter vegetables. How about a hearty swede stew, kale, a finely spiced pumpkin soup or classic sauerkraut with smoked pork, for example? If you eat a predominantly healthy and varied diet in winter, you can of course have a snack here and there.
To avoid falling into a hole at 5 pm, we recommend a short power nap at lunchtime, which should be no longer than 30 minutes. Because you actually need a little more sleep in winter than in summer. The short break will give you strength and energy to counteract your winter fatigue. So, you can power through until late in the evening without any problems. Just give it a try!
After a nap is the ideal time to do a short sports session. If the winter permits, a short bike ride or a run in the fresh air is of course the best way to get your circulation going. During rain, snow and icy temperatures, you can just as easily fall back on a short home workout or a yoga session. Short exercise sessions stimulate your blood circulation and ensure that winter fatigue doesn’t occur in the first place.
Do you feel full of energy after a coffee chat with your best friend? Then you shouldn’t neglect these social interactions in winter. If the weather doesn’t allow you to meet up outside your own four walls, why not invite a loved one to your home? You can make tea together, wrap yourselves in cosy blankets and just chat. The same also works via video chat or telephone, of course.
When the sun goes down early in the evening, it’s not surprising that we are overcome by tiredness more quickly than in summer. If you were able to work through all your to-dos during the day, that’s no problem. Celebrate winter by taking time out earlier in the evening. You can use the silence and tranquillity of the darkness to meditate, read or reflect on the day. If you still need to get something done in the afternoon, daylight lamps can make you more productive.
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